Watson undecided on Pakistan head coach role despite PCB accepting fees demands

PTI, Mar 14, 2024, 10:25 AM IST

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who is in line to take over as Pakistan cricket team’s head coach, is yet to make up his mind despite the PCB accepting his remuneration demands.

According to sources in the board, Watson has demanded $2 million annually, which is approximately around 46 million rupees per month, the highest fee ever paid to a foreign coach.

Former foreign coaches of Pakistan such as Richard Pybus, Bob Woolmer, Geoff Lawson, Dav Whatmore, Grant Bradburn and Mickey Arthur were paid much less than what Watson has demanded.

“He has a young family in Australia and also has commitments in the USA Major League. So, he is weighing his options as the board wants him to spend maximum time in Pakistan helping them also discover and groom talent at domestic level,” the source said.

He conceded Watson was taking time to ink the contract because of the frequent changes within the PCB and the coaching staff.

Watson, at present, is coaching the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has no prior experience of coaching an international team although he has dabbled in coaching roles in the Indian Premier League (IPL) PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi had made it clear that he would want a foreign coaching set-up to run the team with the full backing of the board.

Naqvi, despite being appointed as minister of interior, has also indicated he has no intention of leaving his post in the board and will do both the jobs simultaneously.

However, it will not be the first time an official heading the PCB has also held a position in the government, and the source said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had no objection to Naqvi donning the dual role.

Naqvi has already got six bureaucrats of the Punjab government to work on deputation in the board and also announced that he would be taking no salary as minister of interior.