"No MS Dhoni here" — Michael Vaughan's blunt warning to Stephen Fleming over England's Test job

The former England captain, Michael Vaughan, has shown his disappointment with the appointment of the new Test coach, Stephen Fleming, as he won’t be joining the side for the upcoming three-match Test series against Pakistan, starting on August 19 at Headingley. 

Fleming will be in charge of the Test head coaching role from England’s trip to South Africa, as the board decided to remove Brendon McCullum from the red-ball coaching role, with the latter only managing the white-ball teams of the England side.

What exactly did Michael Vaughan say about Stephen Fleming and England's Test coaching role?

Vaughan reckoned that it could have been a vital series for Fleming to gain experience before the Ashes 2023, as he would get to know the people involved in English Cricket.

“Stephen Fleming is a good appointment as England's Test coach, but he should be in position for the start of the Pakistan series, rather than taking over fully for the South Africa tour in December.” Vaughn wrote on his Telegraph.

“It is about the small details, gaining experience of going to grounds such as Edgbaston – which hosts an Ashes Test – getting to know people involved in English cricket and fact-finding about our game by meeting the county coaches who can help him. These are the one-per-cent details England let slip during the Brendon McCullum years but are required to win major trophies.” He wrote in his column.

See Also: ''It was a big moment' - CSK head coach Stephen Fleming lashes out after Dewald Brevis DRS controvery

Vaughan claimed that Fleming won’t have an MS Dhoni-type of person in England to keep his calm approach under pressure. He warned that Fleming had good support staff in the CSK side. 

“Fleming is very well respected, renowned for being a very good manager and tactician. I’ve seen him at the IPL, and one of the problems he might discover in English cricket is that we do not have an MS Dhoni to be his captain.” Vaughan noted.

“Dhoni ran the ship at Chennai Super Kings, and Fleming had some really good backroom coaches as well. Eric Simons was a wonderful bowling coach for him, a master at getting the white ball to swing. His team was built around skill with the ball, not express pace.” The former captain added.

How Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni's partnership made CSK a powerhouse

Fleming and Dhoni’s partnership made Chennai Super Kings a powerhouse in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The former came as the head coach of the franchise in 2008 before they won their maiden title of the event in 2010 and collected their second successive trophy in 2011. 

See Also: Stephen Fleming named England Test coach, Root returns as captain

It was followed by three more IPL trophies for the franchise in 2018, 2021, and 2023. Till 2019, they made it into the playoffs of the IPL in every single edition they featured in.

However, post-2023, CSK failed to reach the Playoffs in three successive seasons in 2024, 2025, and 2026, and that pushed the franchise to remove Fleming from all of their teams.