Surprisingly, Gary Kirsten stepped down as head coach of the Pakistan one-day Twenty20 team, with immediate effect. His resignation came just six months after he signed a two-year deal with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in April 2024, and just a week before Pakistan begin their ODI series in Australia
The PCB has appointed Test coach Jason Gillespie to manage Kirsten for the upcoming tour, which includes six white ball matches
Tensions have been running high between Kirsten, Gillespie and the PCB over the board’s decision to strip the coaching pair of their selection powers, giving those powers only to the newly formed selection committee. it is said to have been reduced, and this is not that he enlisted
While Kirsten has refrained from saying anything publicly, sources indicate that she is disappointed with the latest developments. ESPNcricinfo reports that the squad finalized its delayed selection of a new limited-overs captain from heated discussions within the board, as Kirsten was keen to have his opinion considered when new captain Mohammad Rizwan was announced at a press conference in Lahore Chairman Mohsin Naqvi flanked Aqibjaved from the selection committee and new deputy commander Salman Agha.
Teachers felt increasingly alienated as the influence of the current selection committee grew. The new appointment was introduced after Pakistan lost the first Test against England, the third such change in just three months. Led by Aqib, the panel, which included prominent figures such as Aleem Dar and Azhar Ali, effectively excluded coaches and captains from the decision-making process Rizwan even said during the Test that it seemed the team playing “Aqib ball”, to highlight the changes in it way.
Even given the elusive standards of Pakistani cricket, Kirsten’s quick exit is shocking. Notably, he retires after not coaching Pakistan for a single day, despite record success along the way, including India winning their first ODI World Cup title in 28 years in 2011. The PCB spent months scouting for top coaching talent, eventually selecting Kirsten Having previously considered various celebrities such as Shane Watson and Darren Sammy, which Naqvi described as "a privilege that amazing" for the team.
Kirsten's coaching journey with Pakistan got off to a rough start, as her first major assignment was the T20 World Cup in the US, which ended in disappointment, leaving Pakistan out of the T20 World Cup early after losing to the US and India . . . . Soon after, Babar Azam retired a white ball captain for the second time. Especially with the ICC Champions Trophy approaching in early 2025, it was believed that Kirsten would need time to build a competitive team—the first ICC event that Pakistan has hosted in nearly three decades
As the PCB and Gillespie move forward on the tour of Australia, the cricketing world will be watching closely to see how this shake-up will affect Pakistan’s preparations for the future.
----info is from PCB and ESPNcricinfo
