Former India seamer Mohit Sharma is all set to join Chennai Super Kings as its bowling coach as the franchise continues to undergo changes in the support staff.
After Zaheer Khan took over as the head coach, changes to the support staff was expected with the franchise management handing him the responsibility to pick his own staff.
And the first one to join to Zaheer in the coaching set up is Mohit, who has earlier represented the franchise as a player. “Zaheer is picking his own support staff and he has zeroed in on Mohit for the bowling coach role,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said.
Mohit will be replacing Eric Simons, who has been part of the franchise’s coaching set-up under Stephen Fleming. When Zaheer came in, not many expected him to have a separate bowling coach as it has happens to be his forte, but given the wider role he has to play, Zaheer is understood to have pressed for one. The 38-year-old Mohit played for CSK in the early years which coincided with his short stint with Team India as well.
With regards to other support staff, The Indian Express understands that Zaheer is in the process with one candidate expected to join from overseas. It is learnt that the batting coach role may continue to be in the hands of an overseas expert with Zaheer understood to be evolving the options.
Even with regards to the physios and trainers, Zaheer will choose his own staff. There is an expectation in the franchise that Sridharan Sriram and Rajiv Kumar – the two assistant coaches will continue in their respective roles next season as well.
Last week, CSK confirmed the appointment of Zaheer as their new head coach, replacing Fleming who had been in the role since 2009. After failing to qualify for the play-offs in three successive seasons, CSK and Fleming parted ways mutually at the conclusion of MLC in July. Zaheer, who is expected to travel elsewhere, is likely to finalise his staff soon and will most likely make his visit to Chennai toward the end of October to finalise the retentions.
The Indian Express understands that as of now the franchise is not involved in any trade talks with other teams. Even the much rumoured transfer of Hardik Pandya to CSK is a non-starter at this stage, with the franchise not pursuing the player.