James Foster Appointed CSK Fielding Coach Ahead of IPL 2026 Season
James Foster will join the coaching staff of Chennai Super Kings for Indian Premier League 2026. He will work under head coach Stephen Fleming as the team’s fielding coach. The former England wicketkeeper-batter has been hired as CSK looks to improve after finishing last place in the previous season. The 45-year-old represented England in seven Tests, 11 ODIs and five T20Is between 2001 and 2009, and is expected to take up his new role later this month.
Foster previously served as the fielding coach of Kolkata Knight Riders and has also worked with franchises such as Desert Vipers, Northern Superchargers and Peshawar Zalmi.
"We have been looking for a fielding coach. I am hopeful he will join us," said Kasi Viswanathan, CEO of the Super Kings franchise as quoted by Cricbuzz.
James Foster appointed CSK fielding coach as team looks to bounce back in IPL 2026
Apart from head coach Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings support staff includes Mike Hussey as batting coach, Eric Simons as bowling coach, Sridharan Sriram as assistant bowling coach, and Rajiv Kumar as fielding coach. Russell Radhakrishnan is the team manager. CSK have recently begun a pre-season camp for their Indian players, with most of the domestic contingent, including MS Dhoni and Ayush Mhatre, in attendance.
The squad has been training at the franchise’s high-performance centre in preparation for the upcoming season. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, who are currently with the Indian team, are expected to join the camp later, along with Shreyas Gopal after completing his Ranji Trophy commitments.
Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings had a poor season last year, finishing at the bottom of the table with only four wins in 14 matches in the Indian Premier League. To make a strong comeback, CSK has made a big trade with Rajasthan Royals, which is seen as one of the biggest moves in IPL history. In a surprising player swap, CSK traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran for Sanju Samson, who recently grabbed headlines with a match-winning unbeaten 97 against the West Indies to help India reach the semi-finals.
