Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has cleared the air on Jason Gillespie‘s resignation as head coach of the Test team. The former Australia pacer Gillespie stepped down from his role earlier this month after PCB decided not to extend high performance coach Tim Nielsen’s contract. Gillespie was also upset over the fact that the PCB had also barred the coaches from having a say in the selection matters, a decision which had led to the ouster of white-ball coach Gary Kirsten.

“There were certainly challenges. I went into the job eyes wide open, I want to make that really clear. I knew that, you know, Pakistan had cycled through a number of coaches in a pretty short space of time. The straw that broke the camel’s back, I suppose, was, as a head coach, you like to have clear communication with your employer. I was completely and utterly blindsided by a decision to not have a high-performance coach,” Gillespie had told ABC Sport following his resignation.

With Pakistan set to take on South Africa in a two-match Test series, starting from Boxing Day, PCB chief Naqvi has shared his views on Gillespie’s sudden departure.

“The head coach’s role is to coach the team, while the selection committee is supposed to select players,” Naqvi told Geo News.

Both Gillespie and Kirsten were appointed on a two-year contract before the T20 World Cup 2024 and the PCB had promised a new era for the Pakistan team.

But once Aaqib Javed was brought in as senior selector and PCB granted him full powers including in team selection, the foreign coaches started falling out with the board.

Javed has also been appointed as the interim coach of the team across all three formats.

Pakistan lost the T20I series against South Africa, before turning the tables in the ODIs.

(With PTI Inputs)

Former cricketer Basit Ali has taken a dig at Jason Gillespie after he resigned as head coach of Pakistan’s Test team. Former Australia pacer Gillespie’s resignation came after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) didn’t review the contract of Tim Nielsen as the high-performance coach of the team. With Pakistan set to play in a two-match Test series against South Africa starting on Boxing-Day (December 26), Basit took a sly dig at Gillespie, saying that the timing of his resignation couldn’t have been more ideal for him as South Africa is not an easy place to Test cricket.

“He has made a very good decision not to go to South Africa. Why will he not go? Because South Africa isn’t an easy place,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.

Basit also remarked that Gillespie managed to improve his resumee by coaching Pakistan, adding that he won’t be surprise if both him and Nielsen will now get good offers from teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

“Keep everything in mind. Jason Gillespie wanted to make his CV, which he did. This was the best time for him to step down. Winning the series against England was a very big achievement. What happens in our country? People just make their CVs.”

“When Mickey Arthur was removed, people said that perhaps there would be no foreign coaches in Pakistan. Now, when these two have stepped down, you will see that they will get offers from other countries and franchises. They might go to the IPL,”he added.

On being asked to share his views on foreign coaches getting more preference in Pakistan, Basit joked a time would come when a foreigner will become Prime Minister of the country.

“Bring the chairman from outside too then. Does the chairman not appoint those whom he likes? In our country, the ones in charge of the State Bank also come from outside, right? One day, we will have to say that brother, bring the Prime Minister from outside too,” Basit said.

Jason Gillespie stepped down from his role as Pakistan’s Test team coach and former pacer Aaqib Javed has replaced the Australian for the upcoming two-match series against South Africa, PCB announced on Thursday. Pakistan will play two Tests against the Proteas from December 26, and they are already in the Rainbow Nation for the white-ball leg of the tour. Aaqib is currently the interim coach of Pakistan white ball outfits.

Gillespie, whose contract was set to expire in 2026, resigned after the Pakistan Cricket Board didn’t review the contract of Tim Nielsen, who was brought in on the recommendation of the former Aussie quick, as the high performance coach of the team.

Sab ja rahe hain #jasongillespie Khuda Hafiz pic.twitter.com/RF74tbho8K

— iffi Raza (@Rizzvi73) December 12, 2024

Gillespie was also peeved at the PCB’s decision to absolve him of the powers of team selection and involvement in pitch preparation.

It may be recalled that Gary Kirsten, who joined as the white ball side’s coach along with Gillespie, had resigned before Pakistan left for the series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Kirsten had resigned citing differences with the PCB on the matters of authority.

Both Gillespie and Kirsten were appointed on a two-year contract before the T20 World Cup 2024 and the PCB had promised a new era for the Pakistan team.

But once Aaqib was brought in as senior selector and PCB granted him full powers including in team selection, the foreign coaches started falling out with the board.

Pakistan’s Test head coach Jason Gillespie is reportedly reconsidering his options after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided not to renew the contract of assistant coach Tim Nielsen for the upcoming Test series in South Africa. Nielsen, who was appointed as ‘high-performance red-ball coach’ in August, had been awaiting a contract renewal following Pakistan’s tour of Australia. Despite expressing commitment to the South Africa and West Indies series, Nielsen was informed his services were no longer required, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Gillespie was not consulted about the decision to let Nielsen go, which has caused significant frustration. His dissatisfaction is compounded by the PCB’s earlier removal of him from the selection panel in October, reducing his role to a “matchday strategist”. He has also expressed disappointment over Nielsen’s rapport with players not being considered in the decision.

The PCB has increasingly leaned towards appointing local coaches, citing the limited time overseas coaches spend in Pakistan as a key concern. This reasoning was similarly applied when former head coach Gary Kirsten resigned in October.

While Gillespie remains scheduled to travel to South Africa on December 13, speculation over his future persists. If the PCB terminates his contract, it may owe him a substantial payout due to its mid-2026 expiration. However, resignation on Gillespie’s part would significantly lower any severance payment. The PCB has yet to finalise Nielsen’s replacement or comment publicly on Gillespie’s future.

Last month, PCB denied reports of Gillespie’s exit and confirmed that he ‘will continue to coach the Pakistan side for the two red-ball matches against South Africa’.

However, on the next day, PCB appointed Aaqib Javed as Pakistan’s interim white-ball head coach till the 2025 Champions Trophy. PCB added that during this tenure, Aaqib will continue to serve as a senior member of the men’s national selection committee, and will be assigned additional responsibilities following the conclusion of the eight-team tournament.

Current national selector and former pacer Aaqib Javed is likely to be appointed as the permanent head coach in white ball formats before Pakistan visit Zimbabwe for ODI and T20I series. Pakistan will travel to Zimbabwe between November 24 and December 5 for three ODIs and as many T20Is. A reliable source in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Javed who was initially reluctant to take on the coaching assignment had now been convinced by chairman Mohsin Naqvi to handle the responsibility. “The Pakistan squad will fly to Harare straight from Australia after playing their final T20I on Monday so the new head coach will join them in Zimbabwe,” the source said.

Javed, who is presently the senior national selector, has vast coaching experience with the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and recently was also the bowling coach of Sri Lanka.

He was also the bowling coach of Pakistan and the head coach of the under-19 side in the past.

The PCB initially wanted Australian Jason Gillespie, the Test side’s coach, to take over as the white ball head coach as well but he declined the offer to spend time with his family.

Gillespie was asked to be the interim coach for the white ball series in Australia after South Africa’s Gary Kirsten resigned before the tour to Australia.

Pakistan will fly to South Africa from Zimbabwe for a white ball series and two Tests before returning home in January.

Ahead of the five-match Test series between India and Australia, Pakistan interim head coach Jason Gillespie opened up on the similarities between star pacers Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah. The former Australia pacer Gillespie also highlighted the importance of Bumrah in the current Indian Test set-up. The five-match Test series between India and Australia will get underway with the first Test in Perth, starting November 22. Gillespie gave his insights on Cummins and Bumrah’s biggest strength, adding that both have the knack of taking wickets when other bowlers struggle in the team to find breakthroughs.

“Their major strength is they are pretty relentless in attacking the batters. They have a good pace, bowl challenging lines and lengths. They are always asking questions about batsmen’s technique. They are always making sure that the batsman has to make good decisions or they will get themselves out. So… they are relentless with their accuracy and discipline but they also can bowl those unplayable deliveries. Whether it swings really late or it just has that extra half-yard of pace or it just does something off the surface which not a lot of bowlers have. They just have a knack for creating a wicket when there doesn’t seem to be a wicket. They just create opportunities seemingly out of nowhere,” Gillespie told The Indian Express.

India will miss the services of pacer Mohammed Shami, who is yet to fully recover from his injury, followed by surgery earlier this year. He last played for India during the 2023 ODI World Cup final last year in November.

While insisting Bumrah holds the key for India, Gillespie lavished praise on Mohammed Siraj, who impressed during his last trip to Australia.

“Mohammed Siraj is a nice bowler, he bowled some pretty good spells the last time he was here. But I still think the key bowler for India is Bumrah,” he added.

On being asked to share his views on the venue for the series opener, Gillespie said: “It is a relatively fast bouncy track. Not quite the same as the old WACA. It will have some bounce and carry through it is a pretty good surface. It might challenge the batters early but it will play pretty well.

Pakistan are likely to field an unchanged playing XI versus Australia in the second One-Day International in Adelaide on Friday. A source close to the team said there had been some discussion on handing debut to left-arm wrist spinner Faisal Akram but the pitch appeared to be more encouraging for pacers. “The likelihood is that Pakistan will field the same eleven that lost the first match by two wickets in Melbourne. The same combination of four pace bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah, who has been cleared to play after a slight strain in the first match forced him off the field,” the source said.

He also said Pakistan would depend on their part-time spinners, Agha Salman, Saim Ayub and Kamran Ghulam, who were not called upon to bowl in the opening ODI, which Australia won with 17 overs to spare.

Openers Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub will get another chance to open the innings, with all eyes on star batter Babar Azam, who has been struggling for form. He was dismissed for 37 in Melbourne after a scratchy innings.

“There has been talk about trying out all-rounder Aamer Jamal in place of Mohammad Hasnain, but the team management, including interim head coach Jason Gillispie, feel it would be unfair to drop Hasnain after just one game as he was playing in an international after more than a year,” the source added.

Pakistan playing XI for 2nd ODI: Muhammad Rizwan (c & wk), Agha Salman (vc), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Ghulam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Muhammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah.