PSL 2022: James Foster Named New Coach Of Peshawar Zalmi; Replaces Daren Sammy

Former England keeper-batter James Foster has been named the new head coach of the Peshawar Zalmi franchise for the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2022). He replaced West Indies’ Daren Sammy, who has been associated with the franchise for a long time.

The upcoming PSL 2022 gets underway from January 27 in Karachi will see Zalmi management promoting assistant coach James Foster as head coach of the team while having discussions with Daren Sammy for a mentor role.

Sammy led the team to a title in 2017 and also during the runners-up finishes in 2018 and 2019 before being replaced by Wahab Riaz, who was named the full-time captain in the middle of the 2020 edition, with Sammy taking over the head coach role.

Daren Sammy Pulls Out Of PSL 2022 Due To Personal Commitments

It was learnt that Peshawar Zalmi was looking for a new head coach after Sammy needed some time off and apologized for his late pullout owing to personal commitments. Zalmi and Sammy have been associated in the PSL for a long time as he was the vice-captain of the team before taking over captaincy duties after Shahid Afridi resigned in 2017.

The Zalmi management was in search of a head coach option given Sammy’s broadcasting commitments, although the management is still inclined to have him as a part of the leadership group due to his significant contributions. The 28-year-old Sammy is currently playing for the World Giants team in the Legends League Cricket in Oman and is yet to retire from professional cricket.

James Foster, on the other hand, has been part of many big-time coaching gigs in various franchise-based short-format leagues including the Indian Premier League, Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, and Bangladesh Premier League.

The seventh edition of PSL is set to be played at two camps as the action will move from Karachi, which will host the first 15 fixtures, to Lahore, where the remaining 15 league games and four playoffs are scheduled.

The Zalmis will begin their PSL 2022 against Quetta Gladiators on January 28, which are the league’s second-most successful franchise after Islamabad United, having won 38 of their 70 games.

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