Shane Watson Appointed Head Coach of Quetta Gladiators

Quetta Gladiators will have their first coaching change since the PSL began when Moin Khan, the team director, assumes the position after eight years in charge.

(Cricket News) The announcement will mark the first coaching change for the Quetta Gladiators since the tournament’s inception, with former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan, who served as coach for eight years, taking on the role of team director.

Many sources state that a final agreement between Watson and the Gladiators has been reached, with an announcement expected later on Wednesday. It is unclear, though, if Watson’s appointment means the Gladiators are looking for a wider clearing out of a coaching staff that has seen them miss the playoffs for four seasons in a row, as the announcement will occur later on Wednesday.

In the PSL’s first four seasons, the Gladiators finished in the final three times and won the championship in 2019. Watson, who signed with the Gladiators in 2018 after spending two years with Islamabad United, was a major contributor to the team’s success, emerging as perhaps their best overseas player during his three-season stay until 2020.

He led the league in runs scored during their winning season in 2019, hitting 430 runs at a strike rate of 143.81, a performance that earned him the title of Player-of-the-Tournament.

Despite having the same coach and captain (Sarfaraz Ahmed), the Gladiators have not made the playoffs in the last four years, and there is no indication that this will change. Watson, 42, retired from all forms of cricket in 2020.

He joined the Delhi Capitals of the Indian Premier League as an assistant coach in 2022, working alongside his former Australia teammate Ricky Ponting. Earlier this year, Watson was named head coach of the Major League Cricket franchise San Francisco Unicorns.

Watson represented Australia in two World Cup-winning teams (in 2007 and 2015), was a dominant player in the Champions Trophy, winning Player-of-the-Match in both the 2006 and 2009 tournament finals, and amassed 5757 runs at 40.54 with a strike rate of 90.44 in 190 ODIs. Watson played 59 Test matches for Australia, but his best form was evident in limited-overs cricket.

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