R Ashwin, the former India spinner, termed Stephen Fleming‘s 18-year association with Chennai Super Kings as “beyond excellent” but believes it was “about time” they went in a new direction.

On Tuesday, the franchise announced they were parting ways mutually with Fleming, who was also in charge of their sister franchises – Texas Super Kings (Major League Cricket) and Jo’burg Super Kings (SA20). No new appointments have been made yet.

“Fleming really understood what ticked [MS] Dhoni and Dhoni understood that Fleming was a great lieutenant, and that partnership carried on for such a long time. I would say it was about time Chennai Super Kings looked beyond,” Ashwin told Cricinfo.

“If Dhoni is willing to do that [take over as coach], there is no better person that Chennai Super Kings can go after. If not, they need to find someone who will be able to operate independently and take accountability for his or her own actions.”

Ashwin believes the new coach will have a tough job forging an identity of their own without being overawed by Dhoni’s presence. As things stand, it isn’t clear if Dhoni will continue to play in 2027. He missed all of IPL 2026 due to a knee injury, and the franchise has continued to remain tight-lipped over his future.

“I think there is a small aspect of uncertainty for anybody that will walk into that dressing room,” Ashwin said. “Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a huge name and he’s still very much a part of the discussion when you’re talking about a squad that will be picked to play.

“And there is also going to be somebody who’s going to be sitting there as an elder brother or a mentor for that squad, which has been used to him for all these years. Which makes it very delicate for somebody who will walk into the dressing room and someone who will take over the reins from Stephen Fleming, because they do not understand what Fleming has given to that franchise. So they will have to seamlessly fall into that role, which can be very, very tricky.”

Having worked with Fleming across two different stints – initially from 2008 to 2017 (including his time with Rising Pune Super Giants) and later in 2025, Ashwin presented his perspective of Fleming the coach and tactician.

“He brought clarity into play, how he spoke to people,” Ashwin explained. “He brought lack of pressure inside the dressing room as a facet of Chennai Super Kings. Made it a fabric of the franchise. Ran very good practices.

“Ran really, really good practice sessions for everyone, which I thought eventually kind of started giving way when I made a comeback. I didn’t necessarily think it was the same case, and that can happen. As people stay on and stick to the same job for a long period of time, it can get rusty.

“And I think Stephen Fleming’s legacy will stay very high, but his legacy will also be very difficult for somebody to come and fill in. So, an interesting phase for Chennai Super Kings. Exciting to change the new fabric. We’ll have to wait and see how they go about making those decisions.”

One of the big calls the ownership will need to take before identifying Fleming’s successor is to assess the kind of person they want.

“Is it going to be a setup where they say, ‘Okay, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will look after most of the job. We’re looking for people who will do the laundry work around him, who will do the job around MSD’s functioning in this particular team’,” Ashwin said. “And that’s why I said it is a very interesting phase for the franchise where they’ll have to decide if it’s MS Dhoni’s CSK that will move ahead, or if it’s somebody else who will be an alpha, who will walk in and run the team as they see fit.”