Shane Watson, the former Australia all-rounder, who seemed to be the frontrunner for the position of head coach for the Pakistan national team, has changed his mind.
The Pakistani team and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are facing concerning news regarding their coaching situation. They went to great lengths to try to persuade Shane Watson to take on the head coach role, even offering a substantial sum of 4.2 crores of Pakistani Rupees for his expertise. Watson, a former Australian international, had been coaching the PSL team Quetta Gladiators until their recent elimination from the competition with a 39-run defeat against Islamabad United.
The PCB’s pursuit of Watson was timed with Pakistan’s busy schedule of limited-overs cricket, including the upcoming series against New Zealand and England, leading up to the T20 World Cup in June. However, Watson’s decision not to pursue the coaching position leaves the national team without a head coach for the upcoming series against New Zealand.
Shane Watson had initially given serious thought to accepting the offer to take on a coaching role with the PCB, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. However, he ultimately decided against it due to various factors. One key reason was his existing commitments, which he had made prior to being approached for the coaching position by the newly appointed PCB chief, Mohsin Naqvi.
To kick things off, Watson’s already lined up a gig either with Star Sports or Jio Cinema for the 2024 Indian Premier League as an expert analyst and commentator. Since the IPL runs pretty much through May, it’s a no-go for him to hop over to the Pakistan camp during that time.
Once the IPL wraps up, he’s back to his franchise head coach role with the San Francisco Unicorns for the 2nd Major League Cricket season in the USA. And let’s not forget, Watson’s got his hands full with a young family waiting for him back in Sydney – something he’s made clear to the Pakistan Cricket Board.
With Watson out of the equation, the PCB’s got its work cut out finding a replacement pronto to lead the national team, especially with that series against New Zealand looming large.
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