Durban based franchise in CSA's T20 league rope in Lance Klusener as head coach

The RPSG-owned Durban-based franchise has announced the appointment of former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener as the head coach of the franchise in the newly launched T20 league by the CSA, set to commence in January 2023.

The RPSG group, which also owns IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants announced its first appointment in a statement released on Monday. Lance Klusener is considered one of the finest all-rounders of his generation and featured for the national team in 49 Tests and 171 ODIs between 1996 to 2004, scoring 3576 runs and 192 wickets in ODIs.

After retiring from international cricket, the Proteas cricketer has been part of coaching camps of various teams, domestic and international, including as the batting coach for the Proteas in late 2019. Earlier, he had spent two years with the Zimbabwe national team as a batting coach from 2016 and 2018 and was later appointed the head coach of the Afghanistan team. Klusener’s appointment is not surprising at all, as he was the head coach of the Durban-based Dolphins in the 2010s before joining international teams.

“This is a new challenge for me. It makes me very proud. I am looking forward to meeting the team,” Lance Klusener said in a statement issued by the RPSG group.

IPL franchises wiped out the completions and acquired all six teams of the proposed CSA league

Notably, all the participating six teams of the brand new league have been acquired by IPL franchises. Apart from Lucknow, the owners and co-owners of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, and Rajasthan Royals have bought the remaining teams in the competition.

Previously the CSA had failed to establish a sustainable franchise-based T20 league after the failure of Global League T20 and the Mzansi Super League, and this is their third attempt to re-establish themselves in the global T20 arena. According to the latest reports, the Indian players are less likely to partake in the league, and CSA is likely to allow each team a quota of only four foreign players in the starting XI, similar to the IPL.