“I’ve always spoken about wanting to represent the Knight Riders wherever they play,” Narine said in a Knight Riders release. “We’ve long talked about coming to the United States and I’m glad it’s finally happening. As captain of this side, I am looking forward to the challenge. There are a lot of experienced guys in this team who I can bounce information off, so it will be an exciting time for us. We hope for all Knight Riders fans in America to come out and support us, and all those around the world to keep cheering for us.”
The LAKR squad also features Lockie Ferguson, Jason Roy, Rilee Rossouw, Martin Guptill and Adam Zampa among the other international names.
Simmons brings with him extensive coaching experience from both international cricket and T20 leagues around the world. He served as the head coach of the West Indies teams twice (2015-16 and 2019-2022) and was also with the Zimbabwe (2004-05), Ireland (2007-2015) and Afghanistan (2017-19) teams.