Shane Watson expected to return for PSL 2020

LAHORE: Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is expected to return to Pakistan next year after the Platinum category for Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 included the cricketer, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Saturday.

"I can't wait to come back to Pakistan and play in season five. I had an amazing experience in Karachi during the last PSL," Watson said, recalling his experience of playing in Pakistan this year.

"To be able to connect with the cricket-loving fans in Pakistan and experience Quetta Gladiators winning their first PSL was an amazing experience and one of the highlights of my career."

Watson, the most-sought after T20 cricketer, has featured in all four editions of the PSL. His best run, however, came in the 2019 edition in which he was awarded player of the tournament and played a crucial hand in helping Quetta Gladiators secure their maiden title.

The 38-year-old was the highest run-getter in the tournament as he piled up 430 runs in 12 matches at a blistering strike rate of 143.81. The hard-hitting batsman averaged 43 – the highest amongst the top five run-getters in the edition – and cracked four half-centuries with 91 not out being his highest score.

Though he kept Quetta Gladiators fans on their feet throughout the tournament with his riveting knocks with the bat, his moment of the tournament came with the ball.

Asked to bowl the last over, his only rotation of the arm in the tournament, against Peshawar Zalmi in the Qualifier, with the opposition requiring 21 and a destructive pair of Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy on strike, Watson bowled Pollard to seal a berth in the final for his side.

The much-anticipated PSL Player Draft will be staged at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore on December 6.