Tamil Nadu Premier League 2016: Lance Klusener to coach Lyca Kovai Kings
The Tamil Nadu Premier League is about to witness some extra glamour as former South African cricketer Lance Klusener has been roped in as the coach of the Lyca Kovai Kings. Arguably one of the most impressive all-rounders of his era in the 50–over format, his experience would be more than useful for the Kings in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Premier League. His stint as the assistant coach of Zimbabwe concluded with the series loss to India.
Klusener played 171 ODIs and 49 Test matches for the Proteas. His heroics in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 are still remembered by everyone as Klusener almost took South Africa to the finals of the World Cup with the help of his cameo in the dying moments of the semi-final against Australia, but eventually they lost the match, which is considered to be the one of the “Greatest ODI Matches Ever Played.” He was later awarded the “Player of the Tournament” award for scoring 281 runs and picking up 17 wickets in the competition.
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“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 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. We plan to have a big launch in August, and Klusener could come for that.” said Raju Mahalingam, the Chief Operating Officer of Lyca.
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As per the reports of the Times of India, he also said, ”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 in our team. The presence of Hemanth and Prasanna is also very crucial since they know the local events, and their inputs too will be invaluable.”
The Tamil Nadu Premier League is scheduled to begin next week, featuring big names such as Ravichandran Ashwin. The Tamil Nadu Premier League will be broadcast by Star India; they had been the lone bidder for the contract.