Albie Morkel, a 45-year-old South African all-rounder, has been confirmed as an assistant coach for the 2027 Indian Premier League by the Chennai Super Kings. As CSK aims for a sixth IPL championship, he joins the team’s reorganized backroom staff, which is currently led by Zaheer Khan.
Albie Morkel has close ties to the Super Kings. He joined the team for the inaugural IPL season in 2008 and continued to play for the team until 2013, appearing in 92 games. He was a member of the CSK team that won the Champions League T20 in 2010 and helped the team win back-to-back IPL titles in 2010 and 2011.
CSK posted a message on X to commemorate the event. The lion responsible for some of the most memorable moments in Chepauk is prepared for a fresh start! 💛 Albie Morkel’s journey with the Super Kings continues! He was an original Super King from 2008 and a crucial part of our consecutive IPL victories in 2010 and 2011. Albie Morkel, welcome aboard!” the franchise posted on X.
Before this appointment, what was Albie Morkel up to?
Before this move, Morkel had been steadily building his reputation as a franchise cricket coach. He was promoted to head coach of the Johannesburg Super Kings in the SA20 in July of this year, taking over for Stephen Fleming, who had resigned.
Thus, his choice to become assistant coach at CSK signifies a change from managing a team on his own to working for one of the IPL’s most prosperous teams within a bigger, more established coaching structure.
Gareth Batty and Morkel will collaborate in the CSK dugout. Batty, who had been Surrey’s head coach, left the position to become an assistant coach there. In the meantime, Mohit Sharma, a former fast bowler for India, has been confirmed as CSK’s new bowling coach, bolstering the team’s support staff ahead of the upcoming season, as reported on September 29.
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Sridharan Sriram and James Foster will remain the Chennai Super Kings’ assistant coach and fielding coach, respectively.
Now that the coaching group is almost complete, the new setup’s first task will be to finalize the squad retention list prior to the December mini auction. When the IPL 2027 season begins, Zaheer Khan, Morkel, Batty, and Mohit Sharma’s playing group will be shaped by the choices made during that window.
