The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Monday that the white-ball head coach of the national team, Gary Kirsten, has resigned. Test head coach Jason Gillespie will take over for the team during the limited-overs tour of Australia next month.
The Board appointed Kirsten, a former top-order batter for South Africa, as the men’s national team’s white-ball head coach on April 28.
He coached the team in World Cup 2024, when the Green Shirts were in winning positions but lost both of their first two matches.
During Kirsten’s brief tenure, the cricket board reportedly restricted his authority by modifying the men’s national selection committee’s composition in a number of ways.
In a separate announcement, the PCB named wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan captain and batting all-rounder Agha Salman vice-captain of the white-ball cricket team yesterday, despite Kirsten’s absence from the country and the press conference.
ESPNcricinfo had previously reported that the South African had resigned from the position exactly six months after his appointment.
ESPNcricinfo reported that the PCB and head coach were at odds following the board’s decision to deny Kirsten any input into the selection process.
Instead, the authority was delegated “exclusively” to a selection committee without Kirsten’s participation.
ESPN reported that the announcement of a squad and a new limited-overs captain resulted in “animated discussions” with the board, and Kirsten was “keen” to have his “input taken into consideration.”
It also stated that the decision was made without Kirsten present.
Kirsten led India to victory in the 2011 cricket World Cup in the one-day international format, but Pakistan did not play a single one-day international.
