In latest setback for Pakistan team, Test coach Gillespie resigns ahead of South Africa Tests

Amid their ongoing battle with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suffered another setback on Thursday. Jason Gillespie resigned as the men’s red-ball coach ahead of a two-Test series in South Africa after weeks of uncertainty due to differences with the PCB, with former Pakistan speedster Aaqib Javed set to take over the role across formats.

Gillespie was scheduled to board the flight to South Africa on Friday. The ex-Australian pacer, however, informed the board he had no intention of flying to the ‘Rainbow Nation’ or coaching the Pakistan team again, according to ESPNCricinfo. Gillespie had reportedly been angered by the PCB’s decision to not renew high-performance red-ball coach Tim Nielsen’s contract, for which he had not even been consulted.

Read | ‘Frustrated’ Jason Gillespie exposes internal dynamics of PCB: ‘It wasn’t what I signed up for’

Gillespie and former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten had been appointed Pakistan head coach for the red-ball and white-ball formats respectively in April. Kirsten, however, had put in his papers in late October , just six months into his role after signing a two-year contract, also citing differences with the Mohsin Naqvi-led board.

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During Kirsten’s tenure, Pakistan had failed to advance past the group stage of the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean in June following defeats against USA and India. Gillespie, on the other hand, suffered a major setback as Test coach after his team suffered a 0-2 whitewash at home against Bangladesh , a team they had previously never lost to.

Differences between 49-year-old and the board began to deepen after he was removed from the Test selection committee and later sidelining him over major decisions including not renewing Nielsen’s contract as well as picking the Pakistan squad for the Test series against South Africa, which gets underway on 26 December in Centurion.

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Javed, who had initially taken over as white-ball coach following Kirsten’s resignation, is also a member of the selection committee alongside former cricketers Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq as well as ex-Elite Umpire Aleem Dar and data analyst Hassan Cheema. He had previously served as bowling coach for Pakistan and Sri Lanka and as head coach of the UAE cricket team.