Kolkata: Legendary cricketer and former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming has been appointed as the head coach of the Pune franchise for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016.

Fleming, 42, was the head coach of suspended franchise Chennai Super Kings for the past seven editions. And the coach will also have the support of his former wards — wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and South African batsman Faf du Plessis — in Pune.

In the December draft, the franchise also selected Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane and Australia’s Steven Smith.

“I warmly welcome Stephen Fleming as the chief coach. He has been remarkably successful as a player in the international arena and I firmly believe that his technical knowhow, perseverance and organisation skills will work wonders for our team,” owner Sanjiv Goenka said in a statement.

“I have tremendous faith in his leadership ability and believe that it would have a positive impact on our team members,” he said in the statement.

Fleming represented New Zealand in 111 Tests, scoring 7,172 runs. The left-hander also took part in 280 One-Day Internationals (ODI) scoring 8,037 runs.

Under Fleming’s guidance, the Dhoni-captained CSK won successive IPL titles in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Champions League in 2010.

The franchise will select the rest of its team members during the players’ auction on February 6.