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Karachi Kings (; ) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, and was formed in 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team's home ground is the National Stadium.
The team is currently captained by Shan Masood, who was appointed ahead of the 2024 season. .They won their first PSL title in PSL V after beating their rivals Lahore Qalandars in the final on 17 November 2020.
The leading run-scorer for the side is Babar Azam, while Mohammad Amir is the leading wicket-taker.
The Kings only won one more match during the group stage of the tournament, finishing with two wins and six losses. They finished fourth in the league table however, above Lahore Qalandars with a better head-to-head record, and qualified for the league play-off stage.
Ravi Bopara replaced Shoaib Malik as the team captain ahead of the qualifier match against Islamabad United. After being restricted to their lowest score of the tournament (111), Karachi were defeated by nine wickets in the 15th over and were eliminated from the tournament.
In their first game, Karachi Kings lost to Peshawar Zalmi by 7 wickets in a one-sided affair that saw them post a target of just 118 runs in their 20 overs. In the following game, against the Quetta Gladiators, the Kings failed to defend 160 and lost by 7 wickets yet again. Even as the tournament progressed to Sharjah, the Kings continued their losing streak. Facing a loss this time to arch-rivals, Lahore Qalandars. The match was closely fought and a partnership of 101 runs between veterans Kumar Sangakkara and Shoaib Malik almost won it for the Kings. But in the end they fell short of the target of 180 by 7 runs. But in the next game, against defending champions Islamabad United. The team finally managed to put themselves on the points table. The win came through the Duckworth-Lewis method as the Kings were ahead of the par score by 8 runs when returning rain forced to abandon the already 13-over match. In their final game of the Sharjah leg, the Kings continued their winning streak to get past Peshawar Zalmi in a thrilling contest. Setting up a target of 175, the Kings had the Zalmis reduced to 69-6 before Shahid Afridi and Darren Sammy combined in a 70-run partnership that almost won the game for the Zalmis. However, the Kings' bowling prevailed in the end to give their team a 9-run victory.
As the tournament moved back to Dubai, the Kings couldn't continue their winning streak and lost to table-toppers, Quetta Gladiators, by 6 wickets. Batting first, the Kings set a target of 155 runs, which they were unable to defend despite a 3-wicket-over from pacer Sohail Khan. This loss pushed the Karachi Kings to the bottom of the table once again. However, in the next game, which had become a must-win for both participating teams, the Kings managed to prevail over their rivals the Lahore Qalandars in a thrilling last-ball finish. Chasing 156, the team required 10 runs from the last two balls, which Kieron Pollard surpassed with back-to-back sixes to keep his team alive in the tournament.
Karachi then had to protect their net run rate in the very next league match, against Islamabad United, to qualify for the eliminator. In a rain-marred game, restricted to 15-overs-a-side, they were set a target of 124 by Islamabad and they had to score at least 111 runs to qualify for the eliminator. Gayle set the tempo through his blitzing knock of 44 off a mere 17 balls. The game was superbly finished by none other than Pollard himself on the second last ball of the match via a boundary. Gayle's knock and Pollard's finishing helped Karachi win this encounter against Islamabad.
Consequently, Karachi again faced Islamabad in the eliminator. In what proved to be a thrilling game, Karachi, batting first, scored a measly 126 getting all out in the process. Islamabad was set to win and qualify for the second play off. However, that was not the case as the second innings proved. The Karachi bowlers outshone the Islamabad bowlers with Muhammad Amir, Imad Wasim and Usama Mir each picking up three wickets. Islamabad were all out for a mere 82 runs, their lowest in the tournament and the second-lowest in the tournament's history. Hence, the defending champions were knocked out and Karachi lived another day in the tournament and qualified for the second play-off.
As the league progressed to Sharjah, the Kings' game against Multan Sultans was washed out due to persistent rain. In the next game, against Islamabad United, the team's unbeaten run in the season was ended. Batting first, the Kings posted the highest target in Sharjah that year - 154 runs - before failing to defend it and losing the match by 8 wickets.
Bahria Town, the largest real-estate developers and investors in Pakistan and the largest private housing society in Asia were the team's title sponsors for first three seasons. Besides Bahria Town other sponsors were Summit Bank, The Arkadians, Oye Hoye, PepsiCo, Brighto Paints and Shield Corporation Ltd. Their official main principle partner for the 2017 season was Naya Nazimabad. Bridge Power was platinum sponsor. Cotton & Cotton signed an agreement to be their official apparel partner in December 2016. Vital Tea was their tea partner, their print media partner was the Pakistan Observer and Titans were their memorabilia partner.
| 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 | Nurture | 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 | ||
| 2023 | 1XBAT | Imtiaz Super Market, Mughal Steel, ARY Laguna | |||
| 2024 | ARY Laguna | Imtiaz Super Market | VGO Tel | Mughal Steel, Eazicolor, Dawlance | |
| 2025 |
| +Key |
|
| Head coach | Vacant |
| Assistant coach/fast bowling coach | Vacant |
| Shoaib Malik | 2016 | 2016 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Ravi Bopara | 2016 | 2016 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 2017 | 2017 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Imad Wasim | 2018 | 2023 | 51 | 23 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 48.97 |
| Eoin Morgan | 2018 | 2018 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Mohammad Amir | 2018 | 2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Babar Azam | 2020 | 2022 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.09 |
| Shan Masood | 2024 | 2025 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 12 March 2024
| 27.27 |
| 68.42 |
| 50.00 |
| 28.57 |
| 33.33 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 11 March 2024
| Babar Azam | 2017–2022 | 64 | 2,398 | 90not out |
| Imad Wasim | 2016–2023 | 63 | 1,086 | 92not out |
| Sharjeel Khan | 2020–2023 | 36 | 827 | 105 |
| Shoaib Malik | 2016–2017; 2023–2024 | 38 | 813 | 71not out |
| Colin Ingram | 2018–2021 | 26 | 613 | 127not out |
| Mohammad Amir | 2016–2023 | 65 | 63 | 4/25 |
| Imad Wasim | 2016–2023 | 74 | 51 | 3/16 |
| Usman Shinwari | 2017–2019; 2022 | 29 | 37 | 4/15 |
| Sohail Khan | 2016–2017; 2019 | 19 | 22 | 3/23 |
| Umer Khan | 2019–2020 | 15 | 19 | 3/22 |
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