'It's going to take a little bit of time' - Fleming on transition from Dhoni to Gaikwad

Stephen Fleming has backed Ruturaj Gaikwad as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain. concedes that he has been off the pace with bat in hand in IPL 2026.

"I think Ruturaj can do more," Fleming said. "He's done more in the past. He's been a fine player at the top. He hasn't produced the quantity of runs and the pace of runs [this season] that he's done in his career. And that's something that he will address."

Gaikwad has failed to get going almost without exception this season. Of the 27 batters who have scored 300-plus runs so far. Gaikwad is the only one with a strike rate below 145. Not marginally below, he has gone at 120.67. He does have 321 runs from 13 innings, but just two half-centuries, which suggests that he hasn't been able to carry on despite going slowly. trying to build his innings.

Other numbers, too, don't paint a happy picture for Gaikwad. He has the lowest powerplay strike rate among 19 batters to have faced 100-plus balls in the phase: 124.65. And the slowest half-century of the season is also in his name: in 49 balls against Gujarat Titans (GT).

CSK were beaten by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with five wickets and one over to spare on Monday in Chennai. With only one game left. the five-time champions are looking at a third straight season where they haven't made the playoffs. Although injuries have hampered the team every step of the way. there has been a concern that Gaikwad's batting does not measure up in this hyper-attacking era of the IPL, particularly in the powerplays. He was 9 off 11 at the end of the first six overs on Monday.

"This year, at least, he was here the whole time. Last year, he wasn't here at all," Fleming said referring to the injury that ruled Gaikwad out of IPL 2025. "So it would be unfair to judge that. But, yeah, there's been a lot of work done behind the scenes as we learn about this group of players.

"It's a big transition from having one of the best captains [ MS Dhoni ] in the cricket scene running the franchise for such a long time to a new captain. So it's going to take a little bit of time. But he's doing a good job. He has a massive amount of respect for this group of players. And he's learning all the time and putting that into play. So going forward, I have no doubt he'll be a fine captain for this franchise."

Dhoni was at the ground for the first time on match day this season. Fleming said he hasn't had any talks with the 44-year-old about next season. "No, we're working through this one" was all he offered when asked the question.

Fleming accepted that CSK hadn't done well this season and that his own future was up to the team's owners.

"I'd say it's a choice for the management," Fleming said. "I know there's been a lot of talk about it, but MS has been around a lot this year, which has been really important for the team, for a lot of young players. continuity. So he's been a big part, he hasn't played, but he's still had a big influence on the team.

"There's a lot of good things we've done. We've introduced some new players that will be hopefully generation players for CSK. But I know we're judged on results, that's fair. So, yeah, it's the management's call, not mine."