Ex-South Africa captain Graeme Smith to coach Benoni Zalmi in upcoming T20 Global League

Former South African captain Graeme Smith has been named as the head coach of Benoni Zalmi, a franchise that is part of South Africa’s T20 Global League. According to a report on Cricbuzz, the appointment of the veteran as the head coach was announced by franchise owner Javed Afridi on Monday. Smith, who last played for South Africa in the 2014 home series against Australia, has been part of 117 Tests and 197 ODIs for his country, captaining the Proteas on most occasions. [caption id=“attachment_3959855” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Graeme Smith with Benoni Zalmi team owner Javed Afridi . Twitter @JAfridi10[/caption] “I am personally passionate about creating young leaders and I believe there is no one better than Graeme Smith. He is a model of leadership and inspiration for the talent that will form Benoni Zalmi,” said Afridi. Geoffrey Toyana, who was being considered by many as being one of the front runners in a bid to replace outgoing South African coach Russell Domingo, has been named as the assistant to Smith. The first task for Smith and Toyana would be to pick their team from a pool of 400 players in the player draft at the end of this weekend. Another team of the T20 Global league, Durban Qalandars, have announced their decision to appoint Paddy Upton as the head coach, who is presently with Delhi Daredevils. Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistani bowler, has also been named the bowling coach. This will be the first coaching stint for Smith, who quit international cricket following Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2014. He has been seen in the commentary box on quite a few occasions post-retirement, the most recent ones being the Champions Trophy as well as South Africa’s tour of England earlier this summer.