Former India National Cricket Team opener Sadagopan Ramesh is surprised to see Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have to appoint a batting coach yet ahead of the IPL 2027 season. The franchise has considered an overhaul of its coaching set-up by removing Stephen Fleming as their head coach.

After enduring another lackluster season, the franchise from Chennai went for a major overhaul in the coaching set-up. Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, they considered a reshuffle in their players' set-up, and after the season, an upheaval in their back office. Super Kings have already confirmed their coaches across the departments, keeping the batting slot empty.

CSK is yet to appoint a batting coach ahead of IPL 2027

Former Team India fast bowler Zaheer Khan has been appointed as the head coach of the team, with another former pacer,r Mohit Sharma, as the bowling coach, while Gareth Batty and Albie Morkel are assistant coaches. The franchise has also retained Sridharan Sriram and James Foster ahead of IPL 2027.

For Sadagopan Ramesh, it is a shock to see the team without a batting coach. For years, during the era of Stephen Fleming, former Australia batter Michael Hussey served CSK as the batting coach. Ramesh reckoned that in the last couple of seasons, CSK's struggles were mostly because of their batting, not because of their bowling.

Sadagopan Ramesh explains why CSK needs a batting coach

The former cricketer, from his Instagram handle, expressed that while CSK produced one of the lowest average runs conceded in the last two IPL seasons, they were the bottom two for average team totals in the last two seasons with the bat.

"It's not just a surprise but a shock that CSK are going in without a batting coach next year. More than being a surprise, I also feel this is strategically wrong. Everyone knows that CSK have struggled massively the last two years. But breaking down the numbers from the last two IPL seasons, CSK are actually in the top two for the lowest average runs conceded," said Sadagopan Ramesh.

"However, with the bat, they are bottom two for average team totals in the last two seasons (178). So it's clear that CSK's main issue has been the batting. Yet, they've fully loaded up on the bowling front in their coaching setup with Zaheer Khan, Mohit Sharma, Gareth Batty, and Albie Morkel, who is also a bowling all-rounder," he added.

MS Dhoni as CSK's batting coach?

There were speculations that CSK could appoint their former skipper MS Dhoni as their mentor. There are still no official confirmations on Dhoni's role ahead of the next season. Ramesh himself raised his doubts about whether MS Dhoni will groom the batters and youngsters as a mentor.

"CSK have struggled the last two years even with Michael Hussey as batting coach, and yet they've opted to go with no one at the position when there are several young batters in the side. It also makes one wonder if Dhoni himself might be personally involved and groom the batters and youngsters like a mentor," said Ramesh.