'At some point, MS Dhoni will move on...': CSK head coach Stephen Fleming opens up on bringing in Sanju Samson

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming opened up on a future without MS Dhoni and explained why Sanju Samson will be a highly-important player for the side in IPL 2026. There have been doubts over Dhoni's future in the tournament for quite some time now. Though it is unclear as to when he will decide to hang up his boots, it is expected that that time will come soon.

Fleming reveals why CSK went after Samson

Fleming revealed that succession planning was one of the main reasons behind bringing in Samson. He is also hopeful that the wicketkeeper-batter will strengthen their top-order massively in the upcoming season. Earlier, CSK had traded Ravindra Jadeja to the Rajasthan Royals and had gotten Samson in exchange in what was nothing short of a blockbuster deal.

“For us, the opportunity was there. We felt we were still a little bit light in our opening batting. And we were also looking at the fact that at some point, MS will move on," Fleming said at the IPL 2026 auction.

Dhoni has led CSK for almost al the 18 seasons in IPL and has been one of if not the most important figures in the team. However, the Samson trade shows that the franchise is now starting to look ahead of Dhoni and are preparing for the time when he won't be on their side anymore.

Fleming confident about Samson's quality

Fleming expressed faith in Samson's quality and remarked that he will fit the wicktekeeper-batter role very well. The 31-year-old does have a lot of experience when it comes to the IPL and has played a total of 177 matches in the tournament, scoring 4704 runs including three centuries and 26 fifties.

Sanju is an international-quality player, and he fills that role very well. So it’s succession planning, but also about refreshing the group and looking at what Chennai will look like in six years, not just two," Fleming stated.

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CSK's squad for IPL 2026: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes.