Gary Kirsten resigns as Pakistan’s limited-overs coach

Karachi, Oct 28 (PTI) Pakistan’s white-ball coach Gary Kirsten on Monday stepped down after developing a rift with the country’s cricket board within six months of his appointment.

The 56-year-old South African, who coached India to victory at the 2011 ODI World, was appointed by the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) in April end this year.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced Jason Gillespie will coach the Pakistan men’s cricket team on next month’s white-ball tour of Australia after Gary Kirsten submitted his resignation, which was accepted,” the PCB posted on ‘X’.

Red-ball coach Gillispie, however, has made it clear to the PCB that he can only manage things for the white-ball tour of Australia which starts November 4 and is not interested in a permanent role as the limited overs coach, a reliable source aware of the development said.

“Gillispie has informed the board they should look for a replacement for Kirsten for the white ball games in Zimbabwe and onwards,” he added.

Though the PCB didn’t give the reason for Kirsten’s sudden resignation, the source confirmed that it was because he was not involved when the board announced the squads for the Australia and Zimbabwe tours and the new captain of the white ball format on Sunday.

The PCB has withdrawn the coaches selection powers. Selection is now exclusively the domain of the selection committee.

“Kirsten was not happy with the abrupt manner in which the board took away his powers in selection and other team matters and made this very clear to Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday before sending in his resignation,” another insider said.

He expressed fear that even Gillispie might end up resigning soon as he is also not happy with the current shift in how teams are selected now solely by the selection committee and coaches have no role in this.

Kirsten had been working as a batting coach with the Indian Premier League franchise Gujarat Titans before taking up the role in Paksitan.

The team is riding high on a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over visiting England in a Test series that concluded last week.