Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie has criticized Pakistan’s interim head coach, Aaqib Javed. Gillespie accused Javed of trying to sabotage him and former white-ball coach Gary Kirsten during their time with the Pakistan team. Gillespie claims Javed was working ‘behind the scenes’ to take over coaching responsibilities across all formats of the game.
Gillespie, who recently resigned as Pakistan’s red-ball head coach after just three months, has broken his silence about his departure. He alleges that Aaqib, who was chief selector, was ‘undermining’ both him and Kirsten. Kirsten had also left his white-ball head coach position in October of the previous year, just six months into his contract.
Following Kirsten’s exit, Gillespie was asked to manage the white-ball team. However, he also resigned after two months, after which Aaqib Javed was appointed as interim coach.
After Pakistan’s poor performance at the Champions Trophy, where they failed to advance from the group stage, Aaqib Javed attributed the team’s failures to constant changes in management by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Gillespie responded to these comments with a strong attack on Aaqib. He stated that Aaqib was actively campaigning to become the head coach and undermining the existing coaches.
“This is hilarious. Aaqib was clearly undermining Gary and I behind the scenes campaigning to be the coach in all formats. He is a clown,” Gillespie posted on social media.
In a recent cricket event hosted in Pakistan after almost three decades, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 60 runs.
With Pakistan’s tournament hopes in danger, their match against India became crucial. Pakistan ultimately lost the match in Dubai.
Pakistan needed Bangladesh to defeat New Zealand to stay in the competition. However, New Zealand won against Bangladesh, eliminating both Bangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan’s final match against Bangladesh was then cancelled due to rain.
Following their disappointing tournament performance, Pakistan decided to make changes to their white-ball team in preparation for future international events.
