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Gareth Batty, who guided Surrey to three consecutive County Championship titles between 2022 and 2024, will leave the English County side to join Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as an assistant coach, where he will work alongside the Super Kings head coach Zaheer Khan, according to Cricinfo.
Batty, 49, took charge as Surrey's head coach in 2021, immediately after ending his playing career with the club. Under his leadership, Surrey secured three successive County Championship titles from 2022 to 2024, before finishing as runners-up to Nottinghamshire in 2025. However, Surrey endured a difficult campaign this season, flirting with relegation in the final rounds of the County Championship before eventually finishing seventh. The team also failed to reach the latter stages of either the T20 Blast or the One-Day Cup. Batty's move to CSK comes after his recent involvement in franchise cricket. He served as an assistant coach at Oval Invincibles during their title-winning campaign in 2025 before joining MI London, affiliated with Mumbai Indians, for this year's rebranded competition, according to Cricinfo. Batty's departure brings an end to his 21-year association with Surrey. He first represented the club from 1998 to 2001 before returning in 2010. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, he served as Surrey's captain from 2015 to 2017 before handing over the role to the current incumbent, Rory Burns. "Thank you hardly seems enough for all that Surrey has meant to me," Batty said in a statement, as quoted by Cricinfo. "It has been a privilege to serve this great club, to share in its success and challenges.The new journey is a very exciting one for my family and I with CSK in the IPL and I'm looking forward to getting going." The changes follow the appointment of long-serving CSK head coach Stephen Fleming to the England Test role and his subsequent recruitment of assistants Eric Simons and James Foster. (ANI)
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