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Six months after being appointed the ODI and T20I coach of Pakistan Men, Gary Kirsten has stepped down from the job, as per reports.
The PCB had appointed Kirsten as head coach for the senior men’s white-ball teams on April 28, 2024, while Jason Gillespie was named head coach of the Test side. Exactly six months later, reports of him stepping down from the role have surfaced.
ESPNCricinfo reported “a rift” developing between Kirsten and Gillespie, and the PCB, since the board “decided to strip them of selection powers”. Neither coach is a member of the selection committee.
A Cricbuzz report, on the other hand, mentions “serious differences of opinion between Kirsten and the players” and that the PCB turned down his request to appoint David Reid as a high performance coach.
“I’m not a selector, I’m a match-day strategist as head coach,” Gillespie said at a recent press conference. “My focus is on the players. I’ll let the selectors do their job … I’m getting splinters in my arse from sitting on the fence here.”
After England thrashed Pakistan in the first Test match, Pakistan appointed a new five-member selection panel. They took the bold decisions of leaving out Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah, and Pakistan turned things around to win the series 2-1.
Mohammad Rizwan has been named Pakistan’s new white-ball captain!
He will take charge from the tour of Australia starting in November.
Get the latest updates here: https://t.co/tAAzJHjATG pic.twitter.com/3iz9RkkZLG
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 27, 2024
The ESPNCricinfo report added that Kirsten was “keen to have his input taken into consideration” when Pakistan named their new squads, captain, and vice-captain. While it is not clear whether his inputs played a role, Kirsten was certainly not in the country when PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi and selector Aaqib Javed announced Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha for the two roles.
In February and March, Pakistan are expected to host the ICC Champions Trophy, the first global tournament in the nation since the 1996 World Cup. Kirsten’s resignation will force them to appoint a new coach.
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