Biography

Considered as one of the greatest captains in the history of cricket, Stephen Fleming’s name will go down as New Zealand’s most successful skipper in the record books. He will also be remembered as one of the best batsmen his country has ever produced.

A graceful left-handed batsman, Fleming made his Test debut in 1994 against India. He was soon handed over the captaincy and in 2000, established himself as the most successful captain of the Black Caps with his 12th Test win that came over Zimbabwe. As a batsman, he was infamously known for the worst conversion ratios in world cricket. However, his knock of 274 not out against Sri Lanka in 2003 was enough to silence his critics. He became the first Kiwi player to appear in more than 100 Test matches and also the most successful skipper as he led the team to a record 28 Test victories; the most by any New Zealander. His ODI performances were equally good, but the most memorable one came against South Africa in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, where his unbeaten innings of 134 helped New Zealand beat the hosts comfortably. In 2007, he gave up captaincy from ODIs as well as Tests and the following year saw his retirement from international cricket after England’s 2008 tour to New Zealand.

Fleming then turned his attention towards the shorter format of the game and participated in the IPL. He represented the Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural season of 2008. Thereafter, he was appointed as the chief coach of the franchise since the 2009 edition.