Pakistan Confirm New White-Ball Coach For Australia Tour As Gary Kirsten Steps Down (Source: PTI)
In what comes as a big development, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that Jason Gillespie will coach Pakistan on the white-ball tour to Australia. The development comes after Gary Kirsten stepped down as Pakistan's limited-overs coach following a rift with PCB. The board confirmed that Kirsten submitted his resignation to PCB which was accepted. Kirsten was handed a two-year contract by the PCB ahead of the T20 World Cup but the stint lasted barely a few months. Kirsten departed as Pakistan's limited overs coach without coaching Pakistan in a single ODI. The T20 World Cup 2024 was his first assignment but it didn't go Pakistan's way as they were knocked out in the group stage.
The rift between the PCB and Kirsten started when the board decided to strip the coaches of selection powers following the defeat to England in the first Test. The PCB formed a new selection committee comprising Aaqib Javed, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Hassan Cheema, and gave them full authority over the team selections, with coaches not to have any say.
Kirsten was not pleased with the development. In fact, he wanted PCB to consider his opinion while selecting the squads for the Australia and Zimbabwe tours, and on the appointment of Mohammad Rizwan as white-ball captain, but PCB paid no heed, leaving Kirsten disappointed.
Gillespie's appointment has been done on an interim basis and it will be interesting to see if he takes up the role full time. The former Australia cricketer too wasn't pleased after PCB took away selection powers and called himself a match-day strategist.
"The PCB came out and made some changes after that Test match and it was decided that a new selection panel would come in and they would be making the decisions," Gillespie said. "I was not involved in the decision-making. I am just a coach on match day strategy. So, I keep out of things now and just focus on players and getting them ready for cricket," he added.
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