Shane Watson, the former Australian all-rounder, is said to be in the running for the position of head coach for the Pakistan national team. The cricket legend is presently fulfilling the role of head coach for the Quetta Gladiators in the 2024 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2024).
Having recruited him prior to the ongoing season, the Gladiators brought in Shane Watson after facing challenges in advancing beyond the league stage in the last four editions of the PSL. Watson has swiftly left his mark, contributing to the team’s success. Out of their seven league games, the Gladiators have secured victory in four, currently holding the second position in the points table.
They seem poised to reach the playoffs, marking a significant achievement since 2019 when they clinched their inaugural title. Notably, Shane Watson played a pivotal role with the bat in the Gladiators’ 2019 title triumph, emerging as the tournament’s top run-scorer with 430 runs and earning the Player of the Tournament accolade.
Amid Shane Watson’s notable performance as the head coach in the PSL, reports from Pakistani media suggest that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keen on securing his services as the head coach for the national team. Cricket Pakistan indicates that ongoing discussions are taking place between the ex-cricketer and PCB officials, exploring the potential for him to assume the role of the next coach for Pakistan.
Shane Watson is anticipated to have a meeting with the newly-appointed PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, before finalizing the deal. Since Grant Bradburn stepped down as head coach after the ODI World Cup last year, Pakistan has been without a head coach. Mohammad Hafeez temporarily assumed the role of team director and coach during Pakistan’s visits to Australia and New Zealand, but he recently resigned from the position. If the agreement between Shane Watson and PCB comes to fruition, it will mark his inaugural stint as the coach of an international team.
Regarded as one of the premier all-rounders of his era, Shane Watson retired from all forms of cricket in 2020. In the past two IPL seasons, he served as an assistant coach for the Delhi Capitals. Additionally, he took on the role of head coach for the San Francisco Unicorns in the inaugural Major League Cricket last year.
Shane Watson, who represented Australia across all formats, played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs, and 58 T20Is for his national team. In Tests, he amassed 3731 runs and claimed 75 wickets. His ODI career featured 5757 runs and 168 wickets, contributing to two World Cup-winning campaigns in 2007 and 2015. In T20Is, Watson scored 1462 runs and took 48 wickets.
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