PSL 9: Shane Watson named Quetta Gladiators' head coach

Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has been announced as the new head coach of Quetta Gladiators  ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine.

"The Quetta Gladiators owner and the team management has decided to appoint Former Australian all-rounder and Gladiators’ best run-getter in the PSL, Shane Watson as head coach of the team," the franchise announced in a statement.

"Watson had an illustrious career as an all-rounder for Australia, having won the World Cup in 2007 and 2015. Watson played a vital role in Gladiators successful campaign in the PSL championship 2019," the statement added.

Earlier, Gladiators posted a hint on their social platforms with a picture of a man waiting at an Australian airport with the famous Aussie airplane of Qantas Airlines in the background.

Yesterday, Gladiators elevated Moin Khan to the position of Team Director from head coach.

Khan, who has been an integral part of the team's coaching setup since the inaugural season of PSL, stepped into this new role after serving as head coach for eight years.

Under Khan's coaching stewardship, the team clinched the championship title in 2019 and emerged as runners-up twice, marking a period of consistent success and growth for the Gladiators.

Watson, 42, retired from all cricket in 2020. He joined IPL franchise Delhi Capitals as assistant coach in 2022, serving alongside his former Australia team-mate Ricky Ponting. Earlier this year, he was appointed head coach of Major League Cricket franchise San Francisco Unicorns.

While Watson played 59 Tests for Australia, it was in limited-overs cricket where he was at his best. In 190 ODIs, he scored 5757 runs at 40.54 with a strike rate of 90.44, in addition to taking 168 wickets at 31.79. 

He was part of two World Cup-winning Australia sides - in 2007 and 2015 - and was a powerhouse performer in the Champions Trophy, winning the Player-of-the-Match award in the finals of both the 2006 and the 2009 tournaments.

In T20Is, he made 1462 runs at a strike rate of 145.32 and took 48 wickets while maintaining an economy rate of just 7.65. 

He was the Player of the Series in the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, where he topped the run charts with 249 runs at a strike rate of 150, and finished second on the wickets chart with 11 strikes.