Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener is all set to ply his trade in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). Klusener, who represented South Africa in 49 Tests and 171 ODIs, has been signed as the team’s head coach by Coimbatore based franchise, Lyca Kovai Kings.
Talking to the Times Of India(TOI), Chief Operating Officer of Lyca, Raju Mahalinga confirmed the news.
“Yes, we have finalised Klusener as our coach for this season. We have signed him for a period of three years. All the terms and conditions have been agreed upon and the final formalities are being worked out at the moment,” he said.
One of the best all-rounders of his time, Klusener was Zimbabwe’s assistant coach when India toured the African country last month. Mahalingam said that the newly-appointed coach is expected to give a visit to the city when the franchise unveils its logo.
“We plan to have a big launch in August, and Klusener could come for that,” said Mahalingam.
The franchise has already roped in former Tamil Nadu player C Hemanth Kumar and current state cricketer R Prasanna as part of their coaching staff. Mahalingam said that Klusener will bring a lot of experience with him.
“Klusener is a cricketer of international repute and has not only been a great player, but has been part of the coaching staff of franchises such as Mumbai Indians. He will definitely bring in a lot of experience to our team. The presence of Hemanth and Prasanna is also very crucial since they know the local talent, and their inputs too will be invaluable,” added Mahalingam.
Meanwhile, former Tamil Nadu offspinner R Venkatesh has been appointed in-charge of the cricket operations of the TNPL.
“Venkatesh has played the game for the state, and has also been involved in the administrative activities of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) over the years, and he fitted the bill perfectly. We got a lot of applications and after carefully scrutinizing them — we zeroed in on Venkatesh,” a source close to the development told TOI.
“While Venkatesh will be the GM (General Manager) for Cricket Operations, we have appointed Akshay Srikanth as the GM for Marketing Services. Akshay is a capable individual who donned the role of marketing manager with Big FM earlier,” said the source.