Former Pakistan head coach Gary Kirsten has opened up on his brief and turbulent stint with the national side, revealing that excessive interference from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) played a major role in his early exit.Kirsten, who was appointed in April 2024 on a two-year deal, stepped down from his role as head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I teams within just six months. His resignation came abruptly, barely a week before Pakistan were scheduled to tour Australia for an ODI series.
In the immediate aftermath of his departure, the PCB handed over additional responsibilities to Test coach Jason Gillespie, who was asked to oversee the white-ball leg of the Australia tour. However, Gillespie too parted ways with the setup a few months later, adding to the instability within the coaching structure.Reflecting on his experience, Kirsten pointed to the constant external involvement in team affairs as the most challenging aspect of the job.“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 said while speaking to talkSPORT Cricket.He explained that such an environment made it extremely difficult for a coach to implement plans or build a stable working relationship with players.“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,” he added.
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Kirsten also highlighted how coaches often become easy targets when results do not go a team’s way, describing it as a counterproductive approach.“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,” Kirsten said.
