3 min readChennaiUpdated: Apr 11, 2026 09:42 AM IST
With 5 IPL titles and 2 Champions League titles for Chennai Super Kings, Stephen Fleming is the most successful coach in the tournament. However, MS Dhoni has been at the forefront of the franchises successful reign and Fleming preferring to be in the background. In the last two seasons, with Dhoni stepping aside and Fleming leading the charge, and the franchise’s performance witnessing a dip, the spotlight has shifted to Kiwi.
While the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Andy Flower have walked away with accolades, the story isn’t the same with Fleming. And asked whether he has got due credit for winning the five titles, Fleming said, “No, it’s not really. It’s actually purely the players,” he said on the eve of their match against Delhi Capitals.
“For me, it just gives us another year coaching. And it’s always been the case. The players do it. The coaching off the field is really important, but the performances on the field win titles. And, yes, we play a part in the fitness of players, the performance of players, the mental state of players, but ultimately the coaches are judged on the players. I’ve worked with one of the greatest captains of all time, and I’ve been incredibly lucky to do that as a coach. So, look, it’s not lost on me, and I’m proud of the results, but it’s not something that I crave or desire to get accolades for,” he added.
Having joined the franchise as a player in 2008, he took the head coach position in 2009 and has remained in the hot-seat, making him one of the longest serving coach in the sport. And Fleming said he is grateful to CSK management for the 18-year stint.
“11 finals and 5 trophies,” Fleming said when asked what he attributed the long coaching stint with CSK. “So, I guess, I’m very grateful, it is unusual. But we have been able to operate at a consistent level that, I guess, has allowed the franchise to put faith in the coaching group. So, the familiarity of that we think is important. We’re doing our job well, and the owners are a judge of that, and the public is a judge of results. It’s somewhere in the middle of being consistent enough to justify still doing it. And when you have a really inconsistent competition, where you lose a team after three years, sometimes having that consistency can help. All I can say is we’re lucky to have got this point, but we’re very proud that we’ve achieved what we’ve achieved, but not satisfied. So, there’s that desire to keep adding and making sure we’re doing a good job, or we move on,” Fleming added.
