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Karachi Kings
کراچی کنگز
Karachi Kings.png
League Pakistan Super League
Personnel
Captain Shan Masood
Coach Phil Simmons
Batting coach Ravi Bopara
Bowling coach Steven Kirby (fast bowling)
Fielding coach Vacant
Owner Salman Iqbal
ARY Digital Network
Team information
City Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Founded 2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Home ground National Stadium, Karachi
Capacity 68,519
History
PSL wins 1 (2020)
Official website karachikings.com.pk
Kit trousers long redsides.png

Playing kit

2024 Karachi Kings season


Karachi Kings (Urdu: کراچی کنگز; Sindhi: ڪراچي ڪنگز) (abbreviated as KK) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, and was formed in 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team's home ground is the National Stadium.

The team is coached by Phil Simmons and captained by Shan Masood. They won their first PSL title in PSL V after beating their rivals Lahore Qalandars in the final on 17 November 2020.

The leading run-scorer for the side is Babar Azam, while Mohammad Amir is the leading wicket-taker.

Franchise history

On 3 December 2015, the PCB announced the owners of the initial five city-based franchises. The Karachi franchise was sold to the ARY Media Group for US$26 million for a ten-year period making it the most expensive franchise in the tournament. However, in 2017, new franchise Multan Sultans replaced Karachi Kings as the most expensive team in PSL history after the team was sold for US$41.6 million for an eight-year agreement.

2016 season

Ravi Bopara
Ravi Bopara was the player of the tournament in the 2016 PSL, after achieving superb batting and bowling performances.

The Kings kicked off their campaign with an easy win against the Lahore Qalandars at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with Mohammad Amir getting a hat-trick.

The Kings only won one more match during the group stage of the tournament, finishing with two wins and six losses. They finished fourth in the league table however, above Lahore Qalandars with a better head-to-head record, and qualified for the league play-off stage.

Ravi Bopara replaced Shoaib Malik as the team captain ahead of the qualifier match against Islamabad United. After being restricted to their lowest score of the tournament (111), Karachi were defeated by nine wickets in the 15th over and were eliminated from the tournament.

2017 season

Kumar Sangakkara and Babar Azam joined Karachi for the second season of the PSL whilst Azhar Mehmood signed on as a coach. Sohail Tanvir was traded for Chris Gayle of the Lahore Qalandars during the off-season trade window. During the 2017 PSL players draft, Karachi retained Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Ravi Bopara, Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Saifullah Bangash, and Shahzaib Hasan. The team added nine players to the squad, including Kieron Pollard, Mahela Jayawardena and Ryan McLaren.

In their first game, Karachi Kings lost to Peshawar Zalmi by 7 wickets in a one-sided affair that saw them post a target of just 118 runs in their 20 overs. In the following game, against the Quetta Gladiators, the Kings failed to defend 160 and lost by 7 wickets yet again. Even as the tournament progressed to Sharjah, the Kings continued their losing streak. Facing a loss this time to arch-rivals, Lahore Qalandars. The match was closely fought and a partnership of 101 runs between veterans Kumar Sangakkara and Shoaib Malik almost won it for the Kings. But in the end they fell short of the target of 180 by 7 runs. But in the next game, against defending champions Islamabad United. The team finally managed to put themselves on the points table. The win came through the Duckworth-Lewis method as the Kings were ahead of the par score by 8 runs when returning rain forced to abandon the already 13-over match. In their final game of the Sharjah leg, the Kings continued their winning streak to get past Peshawar Zalmi in a thrilling contest. Setting up a target of 175, the Kings had the Zalmis reduced to 69-6 before Shahid Afridi and Darren Sammy combined in a 70-run partnership that almost won the game for the Zalmis. However, the Kings' bowling prevailed in the end to give their team a 9-run victory.

As the tournament moved back to Dubai, the Kings couldn't continue their winning streak and lost to table-toppers, Quetta Gladiators, by 6 wickets. Batting first, the Kings set a target of 155 runs, which they were unable to defend despite a 3-wicket-over from pacer Sohail Khan. This loss pushed the Karachi Kings to the bottom of the table once again. However, in the next game, which had become a must-win for both participating teams, the Kings managed to prevail over their rivals the Lahore Qalandars in a thrilling last-ball finish. Chasing 156, the team required 10 runs from the last two balls, which Kieron Pollard surpassed with back-to-back sixes to keep his team alive in the tournament.

Karachi then had to protect their net run rate in the very next league match, against Islamabad United, to qualify for the eliminator. In a rain-marred game, restricted to 15-overs-a-side, they were set a target of 124 by Islamabad and they had to score at least 111 runs to qualify for the eliminator. Gayle set the tempo through his blitzing knock of 44 off a mere 17 balls. The game was superbly finished by none other than Pollard himself on the second last ball of the match via a boundary. Gayle's knock and Pollard's finishing helped Karachi win this encounter against Islamabad.

Consequently, Karachi again faced Islamabad in the eliminator. In what proved to be a thrilling game, Karachi, batting first, scored a measly 126 getting all out in the process. Islamabad was set to win and qualify for the second play off. However, that was not the case as the second innings proved. The Karachi bowlers outshone the Islamabad bowlers with Muhammad Amir, Imad Wasim and Usama Mir each picking up three wickets. Islamabad were all out for a mere 82 runs, their lowest in the tournament and the second-lowest in the tournament's history. Hence, the defending champions were knocked out and Karachi lived another day in the tournament and qualified for the second play-off.

2018 season

Shahid Afridi at the County Ground, Taunton, during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England - 20100902
Shahid Afridi joined the team as president and player for 2018.

On 7 April 2017 Shahid Afridi joined the team as president and player, and left Peshawar Zalmi. Mitchell Johnson was replaced by Tymal Mills as he pulled out from the tournament a month before 2018 season. In their opening match of the 2018 season, Kings ended the two-season losing streak against Quetta Gladiators by beating them by 19 runs. In their next game, the Kings continued their winning form by beating the defending champions, Peshawar Zalmi, in a closely fought game. Chasing a target of 132 runs, the team won with 2 balls and 5 wickets to spare. Their next game was against arch-rivals, Lahore Qalandars. Batting first, the Kings posted 159 for 9 on the board thanks to Bopara's unbeaten innings of 50 runs. In reply, the Qalandars got off to a great start, and were 68 for 1 inside 6 overs, but 3 quick wickets from man of the match, Shahid Afridi, ensured a third consecutive win for his side as the Qalandars fell short by 27 runs. The Kings got eliminated in the match second eliminator match played at Lahore on 21 March 2018 against Peshawar Zalmi.

As the league progressed to Sharjah, the Kings' game against Multan Sultans was washed out due to persistent rain. In the next game, against Islamabad United, the team's unbeaten run in the season was ended. Batting first, the Kings posted the highest target in Sharjah that year - 154 runs - before failing to defend it and losing the match by 8 wickets.

2019 season

Before the 2019 season, Wasim Akram joined the franchise as president.

2020 season

In PSL V, Karachi Kings reached the finals for the first time in PSL history after defeating the Multan Sultans in the qualifier match that went into a Super Over. They also went on to win the PSL V under the leadership of Imad Wasim. Karachi Kings defeated the Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in the final to win their maiden PSL title.

2021 season

In the 2021 season of PSL, Karachi Kings had an excellent kickstart with winning their first match of the season against Quetta Gladiators.

2022 season

The 2022 season proved to be highly challenging for Karachi Kings as they encountered significant setbacks. The team faced defeat in nine out of the ten matches played, ultimately concluding the season at the bottom of the points table.

2023 season

Team identity

The team name and logo were revealed on 21 December 2015. The logo features a lion with Karachi Kings written below in white and gold colors. At the ceremony, team owner Salman Iqbal said that the logo and the theme of the team represented the true spirit and resilience of Karachi. The team's primary jersey color is blue and gold. The jersey also incorporates the roaring lion logo in the bottom left of the shirt. AJ Sports (a sports manufacturing company) is the team's kit manufacturer.

Bahria Town, the largest real-estate developers and investors in Pakistan and the largest private housing society in Asia were the team's title sponsors for first three seasons. Besides Bahria Town other sponsors were Summit Bank, The Arkadians, Oye Hoye, Pepsi, Brighto Paints and Shield Corporation Ltd. Their official main principle partner for the 2017 season was Naya Nazimabad. Bridge Power was platinum sponsor. Cotton & Cotton signed an agreement to be their official apparel partner in December 2016. Vital Tea was their tea partner, their print media partner was the Pakistan Observer and Titans were their memorabilia partner.

Year Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest) Shirt sponsor (back) Chest branding Sleeve branding
2016 AJ Sports Bahria Town Summit Bank The Arkadians Oye Hoye Chips, K-Electric, Shield, Igloo Ice-cream
2017 Bridge Power Batteries Oye Hoye Chips, Shield, Tapal Tea
2018 Nurture Brighto Paints, Imtiaz Super Market, Shield
2019 TUC Scene on! Cadbury Dairy Milk Imtiaz Super Market, Inverex, Rooh Afza
2020 ARY Laguna QMobile Surf Excel Imtiaz Super Market, Mughal Steel, ARY Laguna
2021 Hashmi Ispaghol Pepsi Imtiaz Super Market, Mughal Steel, ME Body Spray
2022 PSO Carient Motor Oil BankIslami Imtiaz Super Market, Mughal Steel, Bona Papa
2023 1XBAT Imtiaz Super Market, Mughal Steel, ARY Laguna
2024 ARY Laguna Imtiaz Super Market VGO Tel Mughal Steel, Eazicolor, Dawlance

Anthems

Karachi Kings' anthem for the inaugural season, was sung by Ali Azmat, titled "Dilon Ke Badshah".The anthem of the team for 2017 season titled "Dhan Dhana Dhan Hoga Re" was sung by Shehzad Roy. As for 2018 season, "De Dhana Dhan" was the team's official anthem sung again by Shehzad Roy. A little modified version of "De Dhana Dhan" was released by Shehzad Roy as the official anthem for the year 2019 and for 2020 Asim Azhar sang "Yeh Hai Karachi" which remained the title for the future anthems that came out in 2022 and 2023 which were also sung by Asim Azhar. 2022 anthem featured Talha Yunus and for 2023, Ali Azmat and Raamis Ali joined with Asim Azhar to release a banger.

Ambassadors

Pakistani film stars Fahad Mustafa, Humayun Saeed and singer Shehzad Roy are the team's star ambassadors.

Rivalry

Karachi Kings have an active rivalry with Lahore Qalandars, and is considered to be the biggest rivalry in the PSL due to the historic economic and cultural rivalry between the cities of the two teams. As of the 2022* season, both teams have played 14 times, with the Kings coming out victorious 8 times. Both teams have a large fan following which makes their matches more intense and interesting to watch. Both teams are known to be the expensive teams of PSL.

Current squad

Key
  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
  •  *  denotes a player who is fully unavailable
  •  *  denotes a player who will be partially unavailable
No. Name Nationality Birth date Category Batting style Bowling style Year signed Notes
Batters
14 James Vince  England (1991-03-14) 14 March 1991 (age 33) Diamond Right-handed Right-arm medium 2023 Vice-captain
75 Irfan Khan  Pakistan (2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 21) Emerging Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2023
76 Leus du Plooy  South Africa (1995-01-12) 12 January 1995 (age 29) Supplementary Left-handed Left-arm orthodox 2024
94 Shan Masood  Pakistan (1989-10-14) 14 October 1989 (age 35) Gold Left-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2024 Captain
All-rounders
18 Shoaib Malik  Pakistan (1982-02-01) 1 February 1982 (age 42) Gold Right-handed Right-arm off break 2023
21 Mohammad Nawaz  Pakistan (1994-03-21) 21 March 1994 (age 30) Platinum Left-handed Left-arm orthodox 2024
23 Arafat Minhas  Pakistan (2005-01-02) 2 January 2005 (age 19) Silver Left-handed Left-arm orthodox 2024
48 Anwar Ali  Pakistan (1987-11-25) 25 November 1987 (age 37) Silver Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2024
55 Kieron Pollard  West Indies (1987-05-15) 15 May 1987 (age 37) Platinum Right-handed Right-arm medium 2024
88 Jamie Overton  England (1994-04-10) 10 April 1994 (age 30) Supplementary Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2024
95 Daniel Sams  Australia (1992-10-27) 27 October 1992 (age 32) Platinum Right-handed Left-arm fast-medium 2024
Wicket-keepers
24 Saad Baig  Pakistan (2006-11-01) 1 November 2006 (age 18) Supplementary Left-handed N/A 2024
43 Tim Seifert  New Zealand (1994-12-14) 14 December 1994 (age 29) Diamond Right-handed N/A 2024
50 Muhammad Akhlaq  Pakistan (1992-11-12) 12 November 1992 (age 32) Silver Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2023
Bowlers
9 Mohammad Amir Khan  Pakistan (2001-09-09) 9 September 2001 (age 23) Silver Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2024
26 Tabraiz Shamsi  South Africa (1990-02-18) 18 February 1990 (age 34) Gold Left-handed Left-arm unorthodox 2023
32 Hasan Ali  Pakistan (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 (age 30) Diamond Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 2024
38 Sirajuddin  Pakistan (2002-01-02) 2 January 2002 (age 22) Emerging Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2024
40 Blessing Muzarabani  Zimbabwe (1996-10-02) 2 October 1996 (age 28) N/A Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2024 Full replacement for Jamie Overton
56 Mohammad Rohid  United Arab Emirates (2002-09-29) 29 September 2002 (age 22) Supplementary Left-handed Left-arm fast-medium 2024
85 Zahid Mahmood  Pakistan (1988-03-20) 20 March 1988 (age 36) N/A Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2024 Partial replacement for Kieron Pollard; Full replacement for Saad Baig
92 Mir Hamza  Pakistan (1992-09-10) 10 September 1992 (age 32) Silver Left-handed Left-arm fast-medium 2022
99 Imran Tahir  South Africa (1979-03-27) 27 March 1979 (age 45) N/A Right-handed Right-arm leg break 2023 Full replacement for Tabraiz Shamsi
Fawad Ali  Oman (1993-04-30) 30 April 1993 (age 31) N/A Left-handed Left-arm fast-medium 2024 Partial replacement for Tim Seifert
  • Source: ESPNcricinfo

Management and coaching staff

Position Name
Owner Salman Iqbal
ARY Digital Network
President Wasim Akram
CEO Tariq Wasi
Director Haider Azhar
Head Coach Phil Simmons
Assistant coach Muhammad Masroor
Batting coach Ravi Bopara
Fast bowling coach Steven Kirby
Fielding coach Vacant
Physio Imtiaz Khan
Trainer Ibrahim Qureshi
Performance analyst Mohsin Sheikh
Masseur Muhammad Irfan
Head of marketing Shehzad Hassan Khan
Media manager Rai Azlan
  • Source: Official website: https://karachikings.com.pk/our-team/

Captains

Name From To Mat Won Lost Tie&W Tie&L NR %
Shoaib Malik 2016 2016 8 2 6 0 0 0 25.00
Ravi Bopara 2016 2016 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00
Kumar Sangakkara 2017 2017 10 5 5 0 0 0 50.00
Imad Wasim 2018 2023 51 23 24 1 1 2 48.97
Eoin Morgan 2018 2018 3 1 2 0 0 0 33.33
Mohammad Amir 2018 2018 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00
Babar Azam 2020 2022 11 1 10 0 0 0 9.09
Shan Masood 2024 Present 10 4 6 0 0 0 40.00
  • Source: ESPNcricinfo

Result summary

Overall result in PSL

Year Pld Won Loss Tie&W Tie&L NR SR (%) Position Summary
2016 9 2 7 0 0 0 22.22 4/5 Play-offs
2017 10 5 5 0 0 0 50.00 3/5 Play-offs
2018 12 5 5 0 1 1 50.00 3/6 Play-offs
2019 11 5 6 0 0 0 45.45 4/6 Play-offs
2020 12 6 4 1 0 1 58.33 1/6 Champions
2021 11 5 6 0 0 0 45.45 4/6 Play-offs
2022 10 1 9 0 0 0 10.00 6/6 League-stage
2023 10 3 7 0 0 0 30.00 5/6 League-stage
2024 10 4 6 0 0 0 40.00 5/6 League-stage
Total 95 36 55 1 1 2 37.89 1 title
  • Tie+W and Tie+L indicates matches tied and then won or Lost in a tiebreaker such as a bowlout or one-over-eliminator ("Super Over")
  • The result percentage excludes no results and counts ties (irrespective of a tiebreaker) as half a win.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 12 March 2024

Head-to-head record

Opposition Span Mat Won Lost Tie&W Tie&L NR SR (%)
Islamabad United 2016–present 22 6 16 0 0 0 27.27
Lahore Qalandars 2016–present 19 13 5 0 1 0 68.42
Multan Sultans 2018–present 15 5 7 1 0 2 33.33
Peshawar Zalmi 2016–present 21 6 15 0 0 0 28.57
Quetta Gladiators 2016–present 18 6 12 0 0 0 33.33

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 11 March 2024

Statistics

Babar Azam is the leading run scorer with 2,398 runs and Mohammad Amir is the leading wicket taker with 63 wickets.

Most runs

Player Years Innings Runs High score
Babar Azam 2017–2022 64 2,398 90*
Imad Wasim 2016–2023 63 1,086 92*
Sharjeel Khan 2020–2023 36 827 105
Shoaib Malik 2016–2017; 2023-present 38 813 71*
Colin Ingram 2018–2021 26 613 127*
  • Source: ESPNcricinfo

Most wickets

Player Years Innings Wickets Best bowling
Mohammad Amir 2016–2023 65 63 4/25
Imad Wasim 2016–2023 74 51 3/16
Usman Shinwari 2017–2019; 2022 29 37 4/15
Sohail Khan 2016–2017; 2019 19 22 3/23
Umer Khan 2019–2020 15 19 3/22
  • Source: ESPNcricinfo

See also

  • Karachi Kings–Lahore Qalandars rivalry
  • List of Pakistan Super League anthems
  • Karachi Dolphins
  • Karachi Zebras
  • Larkana Bulls
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