Zaheer Khan celebrating after dismissing CSK's MS Dhoni (Source: AFP)Chennai Super Kings have announced former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan as the team’s head coach for IPL 2027. He succeeds Stephen Fleming, who held the role for 17 years and helped CSK secure five IPL titles.Zaheer’s contract runs for a year, and he is expected to start his role well before the IPL 2027 player auction. The IPL retention window is normally in November, though franchises have not been given a confirmed date.Zaheer, who had a 14-year competitive cricket career capped by an ODI World Cup win in 2011, was recently with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as their mentor until September 2025.He was with Mumbai Indians from 2018 to 2022, first as Director of Cricket Operations and later as Global Head of Development, once the owners diversified and bought T20 teams around the world.As the former Indian pacer begins his first stint as a head coach with the Chennai-based franchise, let’s look at Zaheer Khan’s record against CSK in the Indian Premier League.Zaheer Khan’s IPL record vs CSKThe left-arm pacer played exactly 100 IPL matches in his career for the following three teams: Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils).Across those 100 games, he picked 102 wickets and an impressive economy of 7.59.Now, talking about Zaheer Khan’s record vs CSK in the IPL.Against the Chennai Super Kings, the tall left-arm pacer featured in 12 innings of 13 matches. He amassed 16 wickets, with 4 for 17 being his best bowling figures against the franchise and across his IPL career.Also read: Zaheer Khan’s CSK Head Coach Appointment Labelled A CopyHaving played for three different franchises in the IPL, the tactical pacer on many occasions single-handedly dismantled a star-studded CSK contingent.Ironically, in his 100-match-long IPL career, the soon-to-be CSK head coach only once took a four-fer, that too against MS Dhoni’s Super Kings. Zaheer Khan’s maiden IPL 4-fer vs CSKIn a rain-shortened eight-over clash played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, Zaheer produced a breathtaking spell to defend RCB’s dismal target of 106.With zero margins of error in the RCB vs CSK, IPL 2013, Zaheer blew CSK’s chase away in his two-over spell.He dismissed Michael Hussey (the season’s Orange Cap winner), Suresh Raina (famously known as Mr IPL), captain MS Dhoni, and CSK’s trusted allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, finishing with figures of 4/17.By capping CSK’s match-winners, Zaheer restricted them to 82/6 to secure a crucial 24-run win.Zaheer Khan unites with his 2011 World Cup-winning captain, MS DhoniMahendra Singh Dhoni’s preference to work with a familiar face in the CSK camp on Monday turned out to be the reason behind the five-time IPL winners appointing Zaheer for the role of head coach.The 47-year-old played 92 Tests, 200 ODIs, and 17 T20Is. One of the trusted lieutenants in Dhoni’s captaincy era with the Indian team, Zaheer was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup, with 21 scalps.Thus, if reports are to be trusted, then former CSK captain MS Dhoni had himself insisted on having someone with whom he is familiar. Also read: Watch- Chamari Athapaththu Livid vs India Women, Smashes Bat And Pads In Anger
