NEW DELHI: Following his exclusion from consideration for the national team’s selection for the forthcoming two-Test series in South Africa, Jason Gillespie made the decision to resign as Pakistan’s red-ball coach.
According to an informed source who is aware of the situation, Gillespie, who was even offered the position of head coach of the white-ball team barely a month ago, had to deal with a challenging climate fostered by certain PCB officials.
“Circumstances were created to make the former Australian player feel alienated in major decisions about the team,” the source said.
“First despite his request the board didn’t renew the contract of high performance coach Tim Nielsen and then the Test squad for the SA series was announced without consulting him,” he added.
According to the source, Gillespie expected to be consulted by the selectors when choosing any series, even though he knew the board had taken away his ability to make decisions.
“Gillespie was also not happy that while refusing to renew contract of Nielsen whom he had recommended the board preferred to bring in Shahid Aslam from the national cricket academy as a coach into the support staff on recommendation of interim white ball head coach and senior selector Aaqib Javed,” the source added.
He claimed that he was annoyed that certain officials had not been routinely returning Gillespie’s calls in recent weeks. He had volunteered to act as interim coach for the white-ball series in Australia, when Pakistan won the ODI series for the first time since 2002, so this was very annoying.
According to the source, certain PCB executives never liked foreign coaches who attempted to exercise their power. Others had suffered similar outcomes in the past, including as Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, who quit as head coach of the white-ball team prior to the Australia series due to problems with authority.
“The sad part is that some senior players also have a role to play in deciding with which coach (es) they are comfortable with and have the backing of some officials.”
The PCB Chairman praised Kirsten and Gillespie’s arrival as a major step forward for Pakistan cricket when they were hired on two-year contracts in March and April of this year.
According to the source, the officials who facilitated Gillespie’s resignation are now stoking suspicions that the Australian was refusing to serve the time in Pakistan required under his contract and was wanting a pay increase.
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