Jason Gillespie will replace Gary Kirsten as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach for the team’s Australia tour, according to Geo News.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) put out a short update saying, “The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced Jason Gillespie will coach the Pakistan men’s cricket team on next month’s white-ball tour of Australia after Gary Kirsten submitted his resignation, which was accepted.”
Though Kirsten gave no reasons for his decision, it is believed that he was dismayed with the recent restrictions put in place by the board which weaned away coaches’ powers of selection. Gillespie too had expressed his displeasure saying earlier he was not satisfied with the happenings and referred to himself as a “match-day analyst”.
Pakistan won the Test series against England after a turnaround, but Kirsten’s exit was eye-popping, considering he leaves without coaching Pakistan in a single ODI, a format he is known to have aced and even won a World Cup in, as coach.
Kirsten was on loggerheads and tensions brewed when captain Mohammad Rizwan was announced as white-ball captain in Lahore, with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi and members of the selection committee present.
Pakistan had earlier announced a new selection panel—their third in three months, comprising Aaqib Javed, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Hassan Cheema, which excluded coaches and the captain from matters of selection. Moreover, Aaquib was seen as the face of their Test turnaround against England with Cricinfo quoting Rizwan as lauding the success as ‘Aquiball’.
Kirsten’s exit came after Pakistan’s horror showing in the T20 World Cup in the America’s and Caribbean, their earliest exit from any ICC tournament.
Pakistan are scheduled to tour Australia and Zimbabwe next with three ODIs and T20Is against Australia starting November 4. However, the big target was the ICC Champions Trophy, to be hosted in early 2025 in Pakistan.
Kirsten left after just 6 months into his 2 year contract.
