Pakistan team is without a head coach since Mohammad Hafeez was sacked after NZ T20Is.
Pakistan Cricket Board's efforts to secure a foreign head coach for the national team suffered consecutive setbacks as after Australian all-rounder Shane Watson turned down the PCB offer, former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has also declined the same.
Sammy declined the PCB’s offer to coach the Pakistan cricket team, citing his ongoing contract with the Cricket West Indies (CWI) as the head coach of the West Indies’ white-ball teams.
As reported by The News, the source revealed, “However, after the PCB more or less agreed to Watson’s financial demands, the Australian cricketer was displeased with the leakage of details regarding the proposed package in the Pakistani media and social media.”
Watson, likewise, rejected the offer after returning home on Saturday night. A source familiar with the developments revealed that senior PCB officials held extensive discussions with Watson in Karachi during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024, where they offered him the head coach role.
Initially, Watson showed interest when the PCB reportedly agreed to all his demands, including financial and other conditions, before ultimately declining the head coach’s role.
The former Australian all-rounder declined the PCB’s offer, citing his prior commitments as a commentator in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the USA league, as well as his desire to spend more time with his young family in Sydney.
According to reports, the PCB had agreed to offer Shane Watson $2 million for the coaching role.
Well, both Darren Sammy and Watson declining the offers, the PCB is now likely to explore interim solutions for overseeing the national team's preparations.
This arrangement is expected to be in place during the training camp scheduled in Kakul from March 25 to April 8, leading up to the home five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
“A team of local coaches as an interim arrangement for the camp and NZ series is the only available option for the PCB now and Chairman Mohsin Naqvi will be required to make a call after the PSL final on 18th March,” the source said.
(PTI inputs)