Kevin Pietersen reacts to potential return to Quetta Gladiators

Former England batter Kevin Pieterson reacted to a potential return to Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Quetta Gladiators as the ninth edition of the league nears.

Pietersen, 43, played for Quetta in three editions, from 2016 to 2018, and is open to a return to the 2019 PSL winners.

After Shane Watson was appointed head coach earlier this season, fans had expressed their desire to see Pietersen with the Australian as the two played together for the franchise for some years.

Pietersen didn’t downplay the opportunity to join the franchise once again and kept the gates to a potential return open.

“Maybe one day!” Pietersen posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Earlier, Quetta Gladiators appointed former Australian pacer Shaun Tait as fast bowling coach ahead of PSL 9.

The 40-year-old has previous experience coaching the Afghanistan cricket team in the 2021 T20 World Cup while he held the role for Pakistan from March 2022 to January 2023.

"I am excited to work with Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Amir," Tait said in a video posted by Quetta Gladiators.

"They are some great talents to work with and also it will be great to work alongside the great Shane Watson," he added.

It must be noted that Watson was named head coach while 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.

It must be noted that Gladiators did three trades before the PSL 9 draft which took place on December 13. Rilee Rossouw (from Multan Sultans), Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim Jr. (Islamabad United) were traded while Naseem Shah (to United) and Iftikhar Ahmed (to Sultans) left the side.

They made some good picks in the draft. The top pick was retired Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir with West Indies' hard-hitter Sherfaine Rutherford in the Platinum category.

Quetta Gladiators: Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Amir, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Jason Roy, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Sajjad Ali Junior, Usman Qadir, Omair Bin Yousuf, Will Smeed, Khawaja Nafay, Adil Naz, Akeal Hosain, and Sohail Khan.