New Delhi: James Foster is set to join the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coaching staff for IPL 2026. According to a Cricbuzz report, he will be appointed as CSK’s fielding coach under Stephen Fleming as the Chennai-based franchise looks to make a comeback from a bottom-place finish last season.
The former England wicketkeeper-batter played seven Test matches, 11 ODIs and five T20I games, and is expected to start his new role later this month. He has previously worked as the fielding coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He has also worked with Desert Vipers, Northern Superchargers, and the Peshawar Zalmi.
Apart from head coach Fleming, the CSK support staff currently includes Mike Hussey as batting coach, Eric Simons as bowling coach, Sridharan Sriram as assistant bowling coach and Rajiv Kumar, who is also a fielding coach. Russell Radhakrishnan serves as the team manager.
“We have been looking for a fielding coach. I am hopeful he will join us,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told Cricbuzz.
CSK begins preparation camp for IPL 2026
The Chennai Super Kings have started their pre-season camp for their Indian players ahead of the IPL 2026. Most of the domestic players, including skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni and Ayush Mhatre, have joined the camp.
They have been preparing for the upcoming season at the franchise’s high-performance centre. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, who are part of India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, will join the camp later.
CSK are the five-time IPL champions, but have failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last two seasons. They finished at the bottom of the table in 2025 with just four victories from 14 matches. The franchise is looking to make a strong comeback and has traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to the Rajasthan Royals for Sanju Samson, who scored a match-winning, unbeaten 97 against the West Indies.