Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi revealed that the former white-ball coach of the men's team, Gary Kirsten, stepped down after a breach of contract. Kirsten, who was just six months into the job, didn't even have Pakistan play an ODI before he quit as the white-ball coach, a day after Mohammad Rizwan was named the new captain in the shorter formats and the squads were announced for Australia and Zimbabwe series.
“He (Kirsten) broke his contract with the PCB and made some breaches. He ended the contract with us," Naqvi told reporters on Wednesday, October 30.
"We will have a new white ball head coach by the end of this month because Jason Gillispie has only agreed to manage the team in Australia for the white ball matches on an interim basis. He is more focussed on his role as red ball head coach. The team will have a new white ball coach for the Zimbabwe tour," Naqvi added.
PCB hasn't revealed the exact reasons but as per PTI sources, Kirsten wasn't happy with his non-involvement in the squad selection for the Australia and Zimbabwe series. The PTI report also suggested that the PCB alleged a breach of contract as Kirsten didn't spend enough time in Pakistan and was keen to bring his own coaching staff to the fore.
With the new selection committee in place, it seems the coaches' power to have a say in the selection or team combination has reduced, something which Gillespie alluded to as well before the third Test against England in Rawalpindi. However, it will be interesting to see, how the 'short-term strategist' role works out for the white-ball side, especially with a new captain.
It seems like Fakhar Zaman might be back on the radar after losing his central contract by going against the PCB. Zaman had offered support for Babar Azam after PCB dropped the superstar trio of Babar, Naseem and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the last couple of Tests but the special committee is reported to be content with his apology.
