Imraan Khan appointed as new batting lead at Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa has appointed renowned domestic coach and former international player Imraan Khan as their batting lead on Monday, August 5. He was named as a temporary replacement for Ashwell Prince for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies, and will now move to a permanent position.
A left-handed batter who represented South Africa in one Test in 2009, Khan has been a long-time coach of the provincial team Dolphins in South Africa. He has led them to two four-day series titles, a shared ODI cup and three CSA T20 tournament finals.
"I want to thank the KZN Cricket Union for all their support," Imraan said in a statement. "It's been an incredible journey, and I've loved starting my coaching career at the union that has been my home for many seasons. This is an exciting step in my path as a coach, but Kingsmead will always be home, and I will miss everyone here."
Dolphins CEO Heinrich Strydom wished him well too.
"We say that we want to create Proteas from a playing perspective, but the same rings true for coaches," Strydom said in a statement. "We're incredibly excited for the next chapter for Immy and want to thank him for his incredible service to KZN Cricket. We wish him all the very best for his new role with Cricket South Africa."
Imran Khan also spent all 15 years of his playing career at the Dolphins as a top-order batter. He scored heavily in red-ball cricket, amassing 9367 runs in 161 matches at an average of 36.58 with 20 centuries. He was also a decent white-ball player, featuring in 121 List-A games and 51 T20s.
Imraan Khan's first international assignment won't be an easy one
For his international coaching debut, South Africa are touring the West Indies for a couple of Tests - August 7-11 in Port of Spain and August 15-19 in Providence. Although the West Indies are coming off an away series white-wash against England, they are a strong side at home and would be raring to turn around the Proteas strong record in their country.