Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden said that current Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) mentor Dinesh Karthik can be the ideal head coach for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2027. However, CSK recently parted ways with Stephen Fleming as head coach, ending a successful 18-year association as well. Meanwhile, Karthik retired from the IPL after playing for RCB in the 2024 season and soon joined RCB as mentor and batting coach and they have won its first two IPL titles in back-to-back seasons in 2025 and 2026 as well.

In a conversation with Sportstar, Hayden said, “There are names that have been mentioned; one of them was Dinesh Karthik, who I think is probably ready to take on that kind of role. I think it’s important to have a local coach. I know that a lot of franchises do go for international coaches, but I feel like the head coach role of a franchise as big as CSK should have that kind of local touch, even Chennai touch, which is why I thought Dinesh would be perfect.”

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Matthew Hayden also lauded CSK for being courageous and moving on from long-time head coach Stephen Fleming after the 2026 IPL season as well. With Fleming as head coach, CSK won all five titles. However, the past two seasons have been poor for CSK, as they have finished 10th and 8th in the points table.

“It’s something that I really hope that the franchise gets right. Flemo did a fantastic job with M. S. Dhoni; that was really such a strong engine room of CSK. [It was] such a beautiful campaign that MS and Flemm had. So much success, equal title holds with Mumbai [Indians], just such a good legacy, but it’s a bold and good move, and I’m looking forward to seeing who gets the job,” Matthew Hayden concluded.