James Foster set to join CSK as fielding coach

James Foster is set to join the Chennai Super Kings coaching staff for IPL 2026 under head coach Stephen Fleming. The fielding coach for CSK, who finished last season in the bottom half of the table, is a former England wicketkeeper and batsman. Foster, 45, played for England in seven Tests, 11 One-Day Internationals, and five Twenty20 Internationals between 2001 and 2009. He is expected to start this month in his new position. "We have been looking for a fielding coach. The CEO of the Super Kings franchise, Kasi Viswanathan, stated, "I hope he will join us." Foster was the fielding coach for Kolkata Knight Riders in the past. He has also collaborated with various franchises, including the Peshawar Zalmi, Northern Superchargers, and Desert Vipers. In addition to head coach Fleming, the CSK support staff currently includes batting coach Mike Hussey, bowling coach Eric Simons, assistant bowling coach Sridharan Sriram, and fielding coach Rajiv Kumar. Russell Radhakrishnan serves as the team manager. The majority of India's domestic contingent, including MS Dhoni and Ayush Mhatre, are attending CSK's pre-season camp for their Indian players. The team has been preparing for the upcoming season at the franchise's high-performance centre. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, currently part of the Indian team, will join the camp later just as will Shreyas Gopal, who just finished a Ranji Trophy assignment. CSK are five-time champions, but they had a disastrous campaign last season, finishing at the bottom of the table with just four wins from 14 games. The team is trying hard to make a strong comeback, so they made a huge deal with the Rajasthan Royals, which is considered to be one of the biggest transfers in IPL history. Sanju Samson, who is currently the toast of the nation following his match-winning 97* against West Indies to propel India to the semifinals, was traded for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in an unexpected player swap.