Gary Kirsten has revealed the reason behind leaving the role as head coach of Pakistan’s limited-overs teams. The former South African opener who had led India to World Cup title in 2011 as coach, said there was significant interference from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Kirsten was appointed in April 2024 on a two-year contract, but he stepped down after a brief six-month stint, only days before Pakistan’s scheduled ODI tour of Australia.
“The thing that surprised me more than anything was the level of interference. I don’t think I have ever seen it at that level before. Did it surprise me? I don’t know, but it was significant,” Kirsten told talkSPORT Cricket.
After Kirsten quit, PCB gave interim charge of the white-ball sides to Test coach Jason Gillespie for the Australia tour, which included six limited-overs matches. Gillespie too resigned for his role a few months later.
Kirsten, who was recently appointed head coach of Sri Lanka, said during his stint in Pakistan it was difficult to formulate a plan because of the constant noise from the outside.
“It is quite difficult for a coach to come and formulate a way that you can work with the players when there is just this constant noise from the outside. It was tough, just this constant noise from the outside and a lot of punitive actions around poor performance and stuff like that,” Kirsten said.
“As a coach, you are the lowest hanging fruit when the team isn’t going well, so let us get rid of the coach or let us put a restriction on the coach because that is the easiest thing to do when the teams are performing, and that is kind of counterproductive in my view,” he added.
Gillespie, who briefly took over the white-ball setup after Kirsten, had already voiced similar concerns earlier. The former Australia fast bowler also pointed to issues with the PCB, alleging that he hadn’t been fully paid and that several terms of his contract were not honoured. The board, however, pushed back on those claims, stating that Gillespie himself did not comply with the four-month notice period mentioned in his agreement.
