Former South Africa cricketer Gary Kirsten has opened up about the decision to step down as Pakistan's white-ball head coach. Kirsten revealed that a lack of influence and internal conflicts within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were key reasons behind his premature departure as the white-ball coach.
Gary Kirsten was appointed as Pakistan’s white-ball coach in April 2024, while Jason Gillespie was signed for the Test side. However, Kirsten resigned just six months later. He made his decision after Pakistan’s squads for last year’s ODI and T20I tours of Australia and Zimbabwe were announced.
Gary Kirsten revealed that his removal from the selection panel reduced his influence within the team. Speaking to Wisden, Kirsten admitted that he quickly realised that he wouldn’t have the authority needed to make an impact. Kirsten and Jason Gillespie were excluded from the new selection panel.
"It was a tumultuous few months. I realised quite quickly I wasn’t going to have much of an influence. Once I was taken off selection and asked to take a team and not be able to shape the team, it became very difficult as a coach then to have any sort of positive influence on the group," Kirsten said.
Jason Gillespie resigned as Pakistan’s Test coach ahead of the Test series against South Africa in December. Gillespie, who had led Australia to an ODI series win, cited PCB’s decision to remove high-performance coach Tim Nielsen as a key reason behind his departure.
I Would Want to Go for the Players - Gary Kirsten
However, Gary Kirsten stated that he is willing to return as Pakistan's coach in the future, but only if the conditions are right. Kirsten said that “influential noise” had made it difficult for him to lead effectively during his previous stint.
"If I got invited back to Pakistan tomorrow, I would go, but I would want to go for the players, and I would want to go under the right circumstances," he said.
"Cricket teams need to be run by cricket people. When that’s not happening and when there’s a lot of noise from the outside that’s very influential noise, it’s very difficult for leaders within the team to walk a journey that you feel like you need to walk in order to take this team to where it needs to go."
I’m Too Old Now to Be Dealing With Other Agendas - Gary Kirsten
Kirsten stated that he only wants to focus on coaching and working closely with players, free from external complications. He described the Pakistan squad as talented and genuine individuals. He also stated that few teams experience the same level of scrutiny after defeats.
"I’m too old now to be dealing with other agendas, I just want to coach a cricket team, work with the players – I love the Pakistan players, they’re great guys. I had a very short period of time with them and I feel for them. More than any other team in the world, they feel the pressure of performance massively, when they lose it’s hectic for them and they feel that," Kirsten said.
After Kirsten's exit, Aaqib Javed served as Pakistan's interim white-ball head coach. He has been replaced by New Zealand's Mike Hesson, who has taken charge of the white-ball formats in the Bangladesh series. Meanwhile, Pakistan are yet to appoint a permanent head coach for their Test team.
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