Six months after he was appointed the coach of Pakistan men's white-ball cricket teams, South African great Gary Kirsten resigned, following a rift with the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Former Australian pacer and current Pakistan Test team coach Jason Gillespie has been handed over the reins for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, beginning on November 4. However, PTI quoted a source as saying that Gillespie has informed the PCB that he is not interested to take up the post permanently, and that the board should look for a new limited-overs coach for the Zimbabwe tour onwards.
ALSO READ: Kirsten slams Pakistan team's lack of unity
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi's opening statement at today’s press conference as Mohammad Rizwan is announced Pakistan's white-ball captain and Salman Ali Agha to serve as vice-captain.
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 27, 2024
Full press conference ➡️ https://t.co/OlvdOqtX0R pic.twitter.com/tf8OvAXZgy
Kirsten, 56, reportedly stepped down after the PCB announced the squads for the Australia and Zimbabwe tours, and the new white-ball captain on Sunday, without consulting with him. The board had stripped the coaches of any say in selection matters, and entrusted it completely to the selection committee.
He, reportedly, conveyed his displeasure to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday, before stepping down.
Kirsten, who coached India to the famous 2011 ODI World Cup win, is also learnt to have told the board that Gillespie, too, might resign soon as he too is unhappy at being stripped off any role in selection matters. The Test team coach had recently said that his role has been reduced to a “match-day analyst”, which was not something "he signed up for".
ALSO READ: Don't sack captains hastily, Gillespie and Kirsten tell PCB
The former Proteas opener, who has served as the batting coach of the Gujarat Titans in IPL, had come under severe criticism following Pakistan's group stage exit in the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Also, according to Cricbuzz, there were “serious differences of opinion between Kirsten and the players”, and that the PCB refused to appoint David Reid as a high performance coach as requested by Kirsten.
Meanwhile, Australia announced their 13-member squad for the T20I series against Pakistan, but did not name a captain. With T20I captain Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head and ODI and Test skipper Pat Cummins unavailable, Australia are yet to appoint a captain for the series. The names of Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Matthew Short, Aaron Hardie and Josh Inglis are being considered for the skipper's role.
