Barely six months after taking up the role of coach of Pakistan’s white-ball sides, Gary Kirsten, has resigned from the position with immediate effect because of irreconcilable differences over the team’s functioning. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked Jason Gillespie, the current red-ball coach, to double up.
The PCB confirmed the parting with the former South Africa opener on Monday, ahead of the white-ball team’s twin tours of Australia and Zimbabwe, where Pakistan will play six limited overs matches each.
“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,” the PCB said in a brief statement. A part of the 15-member ODI squad departed for Australia on Monday, with the rest following on Tuesday.
It has been learnt that there have been continuous frictions between Kirsten, Gillespie and the PCB after the board recently decided to strip the duo of selection powers, leaving that part completely to the selection committee which the head coaches were no longer a part of.
The coaches have felt sidelined due to the rising influence of the new selection committee – a third in three months – comprising the likes of Aaqib Javed, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Hassan Cheema. While Kirsten did not make a public statement, Gillespie had openly said ahead of the third Test against England in Rawalpindi, that he was reduced to just a “match-day analyst”, and that “it wasn’t what I signed up for.”
Kirsten took over Pakistan’s white-ball teams in mid-May, after completing his assignment with the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He joined the squad in England where Pakistan suffered a bilateral series loss to Jos Buttler’s men.
However, the team’s struggles continued into the T20 World Cup, with an unexpected defeat against the hosts USA. A subsequent close defeat to arch-rivals India closed the road for their qualifying for the knockouts of the ICC event in June.
And now with less than four months before the ICC Champions Trophy, the PCB may now have to look for a full-time white-ball coach to replace the South African. The situation isn’t ideal for Pakistan as it will be hosting an ICC tournament for the first time in nearly three decades.
Interestingly, Kirsten, who led India to a first ODI World Cup title in 28 years in 2011, departed from his role without having coached Pakistan in a single ODI, the format where he achieved his greatest coaching success.