In the Pakistan Super Tournament PSL cricket league, Karachi Kings is a professional T20 cricket franchise from Pakistan.
They have participated in the competition since it began in 2015, and they won the PSL 5 championship. Their home field is National Stadium Karachi, which serves as a representation of Sindh’s capital.
The Karachi franchise has a number of well-known former international athletes. Wasim Akram serves as their president and mentor, and Peter Moores serves as their current head coach. King’s bowling instructor is Dougie Brown.
Speaking about their star players, Babar Azam leads the team in runs scored while Muhammad Amir leads the team in wickets taken.
Ownership History
Karachi Kings are owned by Salman Iqbal. 2015 saw the sale of the franchise to ARY Media Group for US$26 million and a ten-year term. At the time, Multan Sultans took their place as the most expensive franchise in the PSL as far as price was concerned.
Team Identity and Sponsors
Salman Iqbal, the team’s owner, unveiled the name and logo in December 2015. The team name is inscribed below the image of a roaring lion on the logo. Blue and gold are the primary colours of the Karachi Kings. Below is a list of some of this franchise’s sponsors.
| Year | Kit Makers | Shirt Sponsor (Front) | Shirt Sponsor (Back) | Front 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 | Nurpur | 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 |
Karachi Kings Kit
Karachi Kings PSL History
PSL 1st Edition | PSL 2016
The tournament campaign for Karachi began with a victory over Lahore Qalandars. During this game, Muhammad Amir also recorded a hat-trick.
They afterwards performed terribly and were only able to win one match after that. They won two of their eight group stage games to end with four points, placing them fourth overall.
They still managed to go to the playoffs, where they lost their elimination game against Islamabad United and thus ended their maiden season’s voyage.
- Coach: Mickey Arthur
- Captain: Shoaib Malik
- Most Runs: Ravi Bopara (329)
- Most Wickets: Ravi Bopara (11)
PSL 2nd Edition | PSL 2017
For the second season, Babar Azam and Kumar Sangakkara joined the Karachi Kings team, and Azhar Mehmood also took on as coach. They earned 8 points overall, placing them third, after winning 4 of their 8 group stage games.
They defeated Islamabad United in the qualification match to advance to the play-off stage. They faced Peshawar Zalmi in the second elimination match, but lost to them and finished third in the competition.
- Coach: Mickey Arthur
- Captain: Kumar Sangakkara
- Most Runs: Babar Azam (291)
- Most Wickets: Sohail Khan (16)
PSL 3rd Edition | PSL 2018
Prior to the commencement of the third season, the Karachi Kings appointed Imad Wasim as their new captain in place of Kumar Sangakkara. Additionally, Shahid Afridi joined the group as president and a senior player.
As a result of winning five of ten games and having one game end in a tie, Karachi placed third overall after the group stage.
They then advanced to the play-off round, where they played Islamabad United in the opening game. They defeated United to advance to the following round of the tournament, where they faced Peshawar Zalmi. This time, they fell to them, and the tournament was over.
- Coach: Mickey Arthur
- Captain: Imad Wasim
- Most Runs: Babar Azam (402)
- Most Wickets: Usman Shinwari (18)
PSL 4th Edition | PSL 2019
This season, Imad Wasim will continue to serve as the team’s captain. They had a successful campaign debut, defeating Multan Sultans by a score of 7 runs. They succeeded in winning five of their ten group games, finishing fourth in the standings with 10 points.
They met Islamabad United in the eliminator match and lost to them by 4 wickets in order to advance to the play-off stage once more. Their tournament run was over with this defeat.
- Coach: Mickey Arthur
- Captain: Imad Wasim
- Most Runs: Babar Azam (473)
- Most Wickets: Mohammad Amir (10)
PSL 5th Edition | PSL 2020
Along with the captain, Imad Wasim, several of the players were kept. Karachi got off to a strong start by defeating Peshawar Zalmi by 10 runs in the first game, but fell to Quetta Gladiators in the following game.
They managed to win 5 out of 10 matches, while one match ended in a tie, to finish second in the group stage with 11 points.
They beat Multan Sultans by two wickets in a tight battle to advance to the finals after qualifying for the play-off stage and facing Multan Sultans in the qualification match.
They defeated Lahore Qalandars by five wickets in the championship game to win the PSL trophy for the first time.
PSL 6th Edition | PSL 2021
Herschelle Gibbs, a former South African batsman, was appointed as Kings’ new coach for the current season. The reigning champions defeated Quetta Gladiators to begin their tournament run.
They were successful in winning five of the ten group games, and with 10 points, they came in fourth in the standings.
They had the opportunity to compete in the elimination match, however they were defeated by Peshawar Zalmi by 5 wickets and were thus ousted from the competition.
PSL 7th Edition | PSL 2022
The Karachi Kings’ season turned out to be a complete failure. They only succeeded in defeating Lahore Qalandars once. They were on the losing side in the remaining 9 games. With just 2 points, Karachi came in last on the points list.
PSL 8th Edition | PSL 2023
Pakistan Super League’s most recent season is slated to take place in February and March of 2023. The draught was completed on December 15, 2022.
Karachi Kings Players 2023
- Haider Ali
- Matthew Wade
- Imran Tahir
- Imad Wasim
- James Fuller
- James Vince
- Andrew Tye
- Shoaib Malik
- Mohammad Amir
- Tayyab Tahir
- Mohammad Akhlaq
- Sharjeel Khan
- Mir Hamza
- Aamir Yamin
- Qasim Akram
- Irfan Khan Niazi
- Ben Cutting
- Musa Khan
Karachi Kings has
- Faysal Akram
- Mohammad Umar
Karachi Kings Player Statistics
Most Runs
| Player | Years | Matches | Innings | Runs | Avg. | HS | 100 | 50 |
| Babar Azam | 2017-2023 | 56 | 54 | 2055 | 44.67 | 90* | 0 | 21 |
| Colin Ingram | 2018-2021 | 28 | 26 | 613 | 30.65 | 127* | 1 | 2 |
| Ravi Bopara | 2016-2019 | 31 | 28 | 575 | 28.75 | 71* | 0 | 3 |
| Sharjeel Khan | 2020-2023 | 23 | 22 | 554 | 26.38 | 105 | 1 | 2 |
| Imad Wasim | 2016-2023 | 59 | 45 | 541 | 18.03 | 50 | 0 | 1 |
Most Wickets
| Player | Years | Matches | Wickets | Avg. | BBI | Econ | SR | 4W | 5W |
| Mohammad Amir | 2016-2023 | 59 | 54 | 29.59 | 4/25 | 7.38 | 14.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Imad Wasim | 2016-2023 | 59 | 36 | 34.58 | 3/18 | 7.05 | 29.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Usman Shinwari | 2017–2019 | 27 | 35 | 24.65 | 4/15 | 8.50 | 15.2 | 2 | 0 |
| Sohail Khan | 2016–2017; 2019 | 19 | 22 | 25.09 | 3/23 | 8.19 | 18.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Umer Khan | 2019–2020 | 17 | 19 | 20.89 | 3/22 | 7.78 | 16.1 | 0 | 0 |
Karachi Kings Result Record
Overall
| Year | P | Won | Loss | T&W | T&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 |
| Total | 75 | 29 | 42 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 38.67% | 1 Time Champion |
Head-to-Head
| Opposition | Span | Mat | Won | Lost | T&W | T&L | NR | SR% |
| Islamabad United | 2016-2023 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Lahore Qalandars | 2016-2023 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 65.38 |
| Multan Sultans | 2018-2023 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 64.28 |
| Peshawar Zalmi | 2016-2023 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Quetta Gladiators | 2018-2023 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41.66 |
Management/Coaching Staff and Captains
| Name | Position |
| Salman Iqbal | Owner |
| Peter Moores | Head coach |
| Wasim Akram | President and Mentor |
| Dougie Brown | Bowling coach |
| Tariq Wasi | CEO & Team Manager |
| Navaid Rasheed | VP Operations |
| Shehzad Hassan Khan | Head of Marketing |
| Faisal Mirza | Team Media Manager |
| Ibrahim Qureshi | Fitness Trainer |
Captains
| No. | Player | From | To | Mat | Won | Lost | T&W | T&L | NR | % |
| 1 | Shoaib Malik | 2016 | 2016 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| 2 | Ravi Bopara | 2016 | 2016 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00.00 |
| 3 | Kumar Sangakkara | 2017 | 2017 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| 4 | Imad Wasim | 2018 | 2021 | 41 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 53.84 |
| 5 | Eoin Morgan | 2018 | 2018 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| 6 | Mohammad Amir | 2018 | 2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00.00 |
| 8 | Babar Azam | 2020 | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 9 | Babar Azam | 2022 | 2023 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |