Former England star set to join Chennai Super Kings as fielding coach ahead of IPL 2026

The Chennai Super Kings will add new coaching staff before the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026 season which will bring former England wicketkeeper James Foster to the team as their next fielding coach. 

Foster played for England cricket team between 2001 and 2009 by participating in seven Tests and 11 ODIs and five T20Is. He started his career as a wicketkeeper before becoming a coach who trained various teams in international T20 competitions.

CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed that the franchise had been searching for a specialist fielding coach and expressed optimism that Foster would join the setup soon. The five-time IPL champions will use this appointment to start their rebuilding process after their unsuccessful 2025 season.

Foster has built his coaching career through various positions which include his work as fielding coach for Kolkata Knight Riders. He developed his international T20 league experience through his work with Desert Vipers, Northern Superchargers and Peshawar Zalmi.

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Super Kings focus on revival after last-place finish

The CSK support staff for head coach Stephen Fleming includes batting coach Mike Hussey and bowling coach Eric Simons together with assistant bowling coach Sridharan Sriram and fielding coach Rajiv Kumar. The team manager position remains filled by Russell Radhakrishnan.

The CSK team has started their pre-season training activities because several Indian players are participating in a training camp at the franchise's high-performance centre. The early training sessions have also included veteran captain MS Dhoni.

The franchise aims to make a strong recovery in IPL 2026 after finishing last in the previous season with four victories out of 14 matches by implementing new support staff members and introducing different team dynamics.