LAHORE: According to sources who spoke with Dawn, Gary Kirsten, Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, resigned on Monday after only seven months in the position. This was due to the fact that the country’s cricket board did not trust him with the selection of the national team for the upcoming tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.
Kirsten’s decision was made public by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) a day after the teams for the respective tours were announced. The PCB also said that Test head coach Jason Gillespie will only be in charge of the team for the trip to Australia. The board’s brief statement did not provide any explanation for Kirsten’s departure.
Kirsten was, according to sources, neither consulted nor given any role in the selection of the Pakistani squad for the tours, which will see the team play three One-Day Internationals and as many Twenty20 Internationals, which led the South African to quit.
Even the PCB, which had stated in a statement on Sunday that the former head coach would join the Pakistan squad in Melbourne on Monday, appeared to be taken aback by Kirsten’s resignation.
Following the inclusions, the committee was reduced to just five members, removing the captains’ and head coaches’ voting rights and effectively eliminating coaches’ participation in the selection process.
Kirsten did not respond until Monday, despite Gillespie’s public concerns about being limited to a “match-day strategist” during Pakistan’s recently concluded Test series against England.
Sources said Kirsten chose to step down instead of housing challenge the PCB and its selectors treatment towards him.
On April 28, this year, the former India head coach was given the Pakistani job. His first tournament was the T20 World Cup in June in the United States, where the national team lost a shocking match to the co-hosts and didn’t make it to the second round.
Meanwhile, a PCB source claimed that differences between the board and the South African were caused by Kirsten’s reluctance to remain in Pakistan and conduct training camps.
The source claims that Kirsten was also surprised by the PCB’s refusal to accommodate the head coach’s demands for the hiring of specific individuals as support staff.
Pakistan has gone through a number of coaches, three board presidents, four captains, and a variety of formats for its domestic competition over the past two years.
“AAQIB, SAQLAIN LIKELY REPLACEMENTS” The PCB is already looking for Kirsten’s replacement because Pakistan will begin their Australian tour on November 4.
On Monday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that Aaqib, also known as former spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who is currently employed by the PCB as the mentor of the domestic side Panthers, may assume the position of white-ball head coach for the national team.
According to a source cited by PTI, “the situation now is that the PCB must appoint a new white ball coach given the number of white ball commitments of the national team coming up and leading up to the Champions Trophy early next year.”
“One option is to allow assistant coach Azhar Mahmood to continue as interim head coach, but either Aaqib or Saqlain could also get the job,” the statement reads.
According to the source, additional candidates are being considered, and board chairman Mohsin Naqvi will soon meet with shortlisted candidates.
PTI says that Azhar will be with the team in Zimbabwe while selector Asad will go to Australia with the national team.
The playing XI was selected on tours by the captain, coach, and vice-captain, while the touring squad was selected by the national selectors until recently.
The PCB altered its policy prior to revamping the selection committee, which now has the authority to select even the playing XI, following the crushing defeat to England at the Multan Test this month.
