Former South African star batsman Herschelle Gibbs has been appointed as the head coach of Karachi Kings for the sixth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL). The current PSL champions have got the South African on-board to fill the boots of late Dean Jones.
Gibbs was one of the most prolific batsmen for the Proteas. In 14-year-long cricketing career, the swashbuckling batsman has played over 380 games for South Africa. He has scored 14,661 runs with 35 centuries & 66 half-centuries across all formats for his country.
After his retirement in 2010, he took up coaching various cricket teams across the globe. The South African has coached the Kuwait National Team in the past. He has also been associated with the Afghanistan domestic circuit – in the Shpageeza Cricket League and Afghan T20 league. Gibbs’ most recent coaching stint was with Colombo Kings in the Lanka Premier League.
Wasim Akram, President and head of the cricketing operations, Karachi Kings is delighted with Gibbs coming on board. Akram said, “It was always going to be tough filling in Deano’s shoes, but Gibbsy has always been a great student of the modern game and with his growing exposure in coaching roles, I reckon he is a great fit at our team to continue our winning ways.”
The South African’s appointment as coach of Karachi Kings comes after PCB started preparing for the sixth edition of PSL by having a player draft on January 10. This season each franchise is allowed to retain eight players with a restriction of having one overseas player from the platinum category.