The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that Jason Gillespie will coach Pakistan on the white-ball tour to Australia, which is a significant step. This comes after Gary Kirsten resigned as Pakistan's limited-overs coach after a falling out with the PCB. The board attested to the fact that PCB accepted Kirsten's resignation. Prior to the T20 World Cup, the PCB offered Kirsten a two-year deal, although it was only for a few months. Without leading Pakistan in an ODI, Kirsten left her position as limited-overs coach. His first task with Pakistan was the T20 World Cup, however, it did not work out as they were eliminated in the group stage itself.
The PCB's decision to deprive the coaches of selection authority after the first Test loss to England marked the beginning of the conflict between Kirsten and the board. The PCB established a new selection committee with Aaqib Javed, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Hassan Cheema on it. They were given complete control over the team selection process, and coaches were not allowed to participate.
The development did not sit well with Kirsten. He actually wanted PCB to take his input into account when choosing the teams for the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe, as well as when appointing Mohammad Rizwan as the white-ball captain, but PCB ignored him, which disappointed Kirsten. It will be fascinating to see if Gillespie takes up the position full-time, as his appointment was made on an interim basis. The former Australian cricket player, who referred to himself as a match-day strategist, was also not happy that the PCB had taken away his ability to make selections.
"The PCB came out and made some changes after that Test match and it was decided that a new selection panel would come in and they would be making the decisions. I was not involved in the decision-making. I am just a coach on match day strategy. So, I keep out of things now and just focus on players and getting them ready for cricket," Gillespie said.
