Former Pakistan head coach Gary Kirsten has opened up about his brief and turbulent stint with the national team, 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 contract, resigned from his position as head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I teams in just six months. His resignation came abruptly, barely a week before Pakistan toured Australia for an ODI series.
Immediately after his departure, the PCB handed additional responsibilities to Test coach Jason Gillespie, who was asked to oversee the white-ball leg of the Australian tour. However, Gillespie also left the organization a few months later, increasing instability within the training structure.Reflecting on her experience, Kirsten pointed to constant outside involvement in team affairs as the most challenging aspect of the job.“What surprised me the most was the level of interference. I don’t think I’ve seen it at that level before. Was I surprised? 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’s quite difficult for a coach to come and formulate a way of working with players when there is this constant noise from outside. It was difficult, just this constant noise from outside and a lot of punitive actions around poor performance and things like that,” he added.
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Kirsten also highlighted how coaches often become easy targets when results do not favor the team, describing it as a counterproductive approach.“As a coach, you’re the low hanging fruit when the team is not doing well, so let’s get rid of the coach or put a restriction on the coach because that’s the easiest thing to do when the teams are performing and that’s a little counterproductive in my opinion,” Kirsten said.
