New Zealand's Twenty20 World Cup bid has been bolstered by one of cricket's most successful coaches, with former captain Stephen Fleming joining the side's preparations in the UAE.
Fleming, 48, steered his Chennai Super Kings to the 2021 Indian Premier League on Saturday and has linked with the Blackcaps in Dubai.
Since retiring from international cricket in 2008, Fleming has established himself as one of the world's premier Twenty20 coaches.
After taking charge of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL in 2009, Fleming has won four titles and finished runner-up a further four times, forming a formidable captain-coach partnership with Indian icon MS Dhoni.
Fleming's Chennai also won two Champions League Twenty20 titles, before the competition folded in 2014.
Another of Fleming's Chennai charges - Blackcaps spinner Mitchell Santner - welcomes his addition to the New Zealand coaching ranks.
"He's obviously got a wealth of experience," says Santner. "He's been at Chennai for 14 years now, I think, and he's seen a lot of T20 cricket.
"I guess [he'll be] trying to bring some of those characteristics that he's got. He's obviously got a pretty good record as a coach in franchise cricket.
"[He's] bringing some good stuff."
Depending on the length of his stint, Fleming's role with the Blackcaps could see him come up against Dhoni, who works as a consultant with India for their World Cup campaign, with the two sides meeting at Dubai on November 1 (NZ time).
Fleming has also coached Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League.
Join Newshub for live updates of the Blackcaps' T20 World Cup campaign from October 27.
