There have been an awful lot of changes in Pakistan cricket in the past two weeks. A new selection committee was formed, core players were dropped from the team, pitch curation and selection were handed entirely to the newly formed committee, and all this was done without involving the Test coach, Jason Gillespie, or captain, Shan Masood. Gillespie confirmed this a few days ago when he said that his role has been limited to just a match-day strategist.
“It was decided that a new selection panel would come in and they would be making decisions. I was not involved in the decision-making, I was just there. I’m now just the coach on match-day strategy. I just keep out of things now and just focus on the players and getting them ready for cricket.”
However, talking to Sky Sports, he expressed his frustration with this sudden change and lack of clear communication by the board. The 49-year-old said that he signed up to work on a long-term plan and these frequent hirings and firings have drifted them from how he wanted the things to be.
“I think there’s always frustrations from time to time. For me, when I came on board with Pakistan cricket, I was told there was a long-term plan, and we need to make sure our communication’s spot on. I made that a real focus and so you can get frustrated if those things aren’t done how you would like.”
During his hiring as the red-ball coach for Pakistan, Jason said that he does not advocate for ‘short-term decisions to look after your own back’. He appears to be rigid on that stance even now. The former Australian cricketer said his ultimate aim is to help the cricket system in the country
“It wasn’t what I signed up for, I’ll be completely honest. But this is one of those situations in which you just need to go with the flow. As I said, I’m in a different environment and things are done differently. One can agree or disagree with how things are done, but ultimately I’m here to help the Pakistan team do well, help the players get better, improve. So I’ve put all my focus and energy into that.”
The interview also touched on a hot topic within Pakistan cricket nowadays; Babar Azam. Jason was quick to throw his weight behind Babar Azam and said that he sees Babar performing a huge role for Pakistan cricket in the near future.
“What I will say is that Babar is a fine player. He’s had a bit of a lean patch, but I don’t think there’s many great players around that have never had a lean patch. I’m very confident Babar will be back scoring a lot of runs for Pakistan in all formats. He’s just too good a player, works really hard at his game, is very precise with his preparation. I fully expect him to have a huge role going forward in the next little while for Pakistan.”
Jason Gillespie, along with Gary Kirsten, was hired as Pakistan men’s Team team coach on a two-year contract in April this year.
