Fleming on CSK's philosophy shift: 'Might've been a little bit slow to evolve'

In signing two uncapped players for a joint-record INR 14.2 crore each at the IPL 2026 player auction, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have marked an unambiguous breakaway from the "experience-first" philosophy that had defined them through the first 18 seasons of the tournament. Reflecting on these signings, head coach Stephen Fleming has conceded that CSK may have been "a little bit slow" to keep up with the evolution of the T20 format.

The shift in thinking, he said, began during IPL 2025, when Dewald Brevis and the uncapped pair of Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel, all signed midway through the season, brought a belated sense of adventure to a top order that had struggled to keep pace with other IPL teams. CSK finished the season in last place but with lessons they took into Tuesday's auction in Abu Dhabi, signing Prashant Veer, 20, and Kartik Sharma, 19, for a combined INR 28.4 crore.

"As the game has evolved, we might have been a little bit slow to evolve with it," Fleming said. "Only halfway through the [2025] tournament we had a big shift and you saw with the players we got in as reserves, there was a shift in what we needed to do.

"Sometimes you can hang on to theories and philosophies because of past success but we identified that we needed to shift and partly the work that we did last season halfway through has enabled us to continue that work done."

Mhatre, Urvil, Veer and Kartik represent a new generation of players who have grown up training to meet T20's demands, and are as likely to catch IPL scouts' eyes in local T20 leagues as they are to come through the traditional route of age-group and domestic cricket. Fleming said these "T20 babies" played in a way that was all about expressing their skills, where earlier generations may have second-guessed themselves looking to assess the match situation.

"I just wonder if we're now seeing the product of T20 coming to the fore," Fleming said. "We witnessed at the start of last year, and certainly the year before that my view used to be that experience was going to win, but now you have this fearless athlete that's been brought up on T20 cricket and has a skillset that's mouthwatering, and they just have no fear about what environment they need to exhibit these skills.

"So that is one thing to acknowledge, that T20 babies are now coming through. And it's just that mental aspect. Sometimes an experienced player can get caught up in himself, trying to work out where the game's going and what's going on. But these young players these days, they're just very free and they only know one way.

"So there's real appeal, especially when the game is being played faster and faster. I think it's a byproduct of T20 being around for some time now and we're all learning, being involved with it, and the faster it gets, these young players seem to play better."

'Succession planning' behind Samson-Jadeja trade

CSK departed from the past in another way before the auction, when they traded franchise legend Ravindra Jadeja, who had played 200 games in the team's yellow, to Rajasthan Royals to secure the services of India keeper-batter Sanju Samson. Fleming suggested that Samson's acquisition was made with one eye on shoring up CSK's top order, and another on the fact that the talismanic MS Dhoni is now 44 and nearing the end of his career.

"The opportunity was there," Fleming said. "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.

"Sanju is an international-quality player and he fills that role very well, so succession planning. And just opportunity really, just again looking at refreshing and seeing what Chennai will look like in six years' time, not two years' time. And just making sure that there's a succession [plan] around the players we are introducing."