Gary Kirsten resigns as Pakistan’s ODI and T-20 coach

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Gary Kirsten has resigned from the post of head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20 team with immediate effect. Kirsten, who was appointed by the PCB on a two-year contract in April 2024, lasted barely six months in the role, and stepped down barely a week before the start of Pakistan’s ODI series in Australia.
*The PCB announced that Test coach Jason Gillespie will take over from Kirsten on the tour of Australia for six white-ball matches.
A rift had developed between Pakistan’s newly-appointed coach, Kirsten and Gillespie and the PCB ever since the board decided to strip them of selection powers, with the power exclusively vested in a selection committee, which they now Will not be a part. Gillespie made little effort to hide his surprise at the events in the run-up to the third Test against England in Rawalpindi, saying that he was now just a “match-day analyst”, and “this was not what I signed up for. “Did for.”
Kirsten has not made any public statement, but is understood to be disappointed by recent developments. ESPNcricinfo has learned that while there has been a delay in announcing the squad and there are animated discussions within the board about the new limited-overs captain, Kirsten is keen to consider his input. Ultimately, however, when new captain Mohammad Rizwan was announced at a press conference in Lahore, only new selection committee member Aaqib Javed and new captain and vice-captain Salman Aga were present along with board chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Kirsten was not even in the country at that time.
With the increase in influence of the current selection committee, coaches have been sidelined. After losing the first Test against England, a new selection panel – the third in three months – was announced. It included Aaqib, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Hasan Cheema, while the coach and captain were removed. Dar was considered the original architect of the idea of ​​preparing a recycled surface for the second Test in Multan – which Pakistan won – while Aaqib became the public face of the overhaul. Even the new white-ball captain Rizwan commented at one point during the Test that Pakistan were now playing “Aqib-ball”.

Kirsten’s departure, and the speed with which things have resolved, is not surprising for Pakistan cricket either. This meant that Kirsten stepped down from his role without coaching Pakistan in a single ODI, the format in which he had achieved his greatest coaching success. Pakistan spent the best part of three months searching for what Naqvi called a “best in class” coach for the team, with several high-profile candidates including Shane Watson and Darren Sammy also putting forward names. Ultimately, they decided on Kirsten, who led India to its first ODI World Cup title in 28 years, for the white-ball format, with Naqvi saying it was “a remarkable opportunity for our players to gain insight from these seasoned professionals”.

Kirsten’s first major tournament was the T20 World Cup in the United States, which was an inauspicious start to her coaching tenure. Losses against the United States and India led to Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup, with the team being eliminated in the first round after three matches. Babar Azam will step down from the white ball captaincy for the second time after a few months. But it was then recognized that Kirsten needed time to find his feet and develop a team, especially with the domestic ICC Champions Trophy in early 2025, Pakistan’s first hosting of the ICC competition in almost three decades.

*0655 GMT: Story updated after PCB officially announces Gillespie will become Australia coach

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