Kolkata: After a successful stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming was on Monday appointed as the chief coach of the new Pune franchise.
With this move, Pune renewed Fleming's long and successful partnership with his former
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was picked in the December draft.
"I warmly welcome Stephen Fleming as the chief coach," team owner Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group said in a statement.
"He has been remarkably successful as a player in the international arena and I firmly believe that his technical knowhow, perseverance and organisation skills will work wonders for our team. I have tremendous faith in his leadership ability and believe that it would have a positive impact on our team members," Goenka was further quoted as saying in a press release.
Under Dhoni and Fleming, CSK became the most successful team in franchise league with two successive IPL triumphs and as many Champions League T20 trophies.
As a result of their lowest bid, Pune had the choice to pick the first player at the first ever IPL draft, and expectedly, they went for Dhoni.
The Pune think tank further strenghthened their squad by roping in Ravichandran Ashwin, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane and Steven Smith.
Pune and Rajkot are the two new teams in place of CSK and Rajasthan Royals who have been suspended for two years by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha panel for the involvement of some of their team officials and co-owners in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. The IPL 2016 is slated to start April 9.
(With PTI inputs)
