Image Credit- PSL
Shane Watson, a former all-arounder for Australia, has
reached an agreement with the Quetta Gladiators to become the team’s head coach
prior to the 2024 PSL season. With the announcement, the Gladiators will have
their first coaching change since the competition’s inception. Moin Khan, a
former wicketkeeper-batter from Pakistan who led the squad for eight years,
will now become the team director.
Gladiators and Watson have reached a final deal; an
announcement is anticipated later on Wednesday. It is unclear at this time
whether Gladiators are seeking a more extensive purge of the coaching staff
that has prevented them from making the playoffs for four straight seasons in
light of Watson’s promotion.
The Gladiators were the PSL’s most reliable team in
its first four seasons, making it to the championship game three times and
taking home the trophy in 2019. After spending two years with Islamabad United,
Watson joined the Gladiators in 2018 and played a key role in their success.
During his three seasons with the team till 2020, Watson may have been their
best overseas player. During their winning season in 2019, he was the team’s
top run scorer with 430 runs at a strike average of 143.81. For his efforts, he
was named Player of the Tournament.
But since then, the Gladiators have had more difficult
times; for the past four seasons, they have all finished outside of the playoff
picture. They have maintained the same coach throughout, but they have also
kept with Sarfaraz Ahmed as their captain. There has been no indication as of
yet that this arrangement will change.
In 2020, Watson, then forty-two, gave up all cricket.
In 2022, he became an assistant coach with the Delhi Capitals of the Indian
Premier League, working with Ricky Ponting, a former teammate from Australia.
He was named head coach of the San Francisco Unicorns of Major League Cricket
earlier this year.