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Gary Kirsten exposes 'outside' influence and 'agendas' that drove him away from Pakistan: 'It was tumultuous few months'
Former Pakistan cricket team coach Gary Kirsten has exposed the difficulties he faced as the white-ball coach of the Men in Green that forced him to resign just six months into the job. Kirsten was made Pakistan's white-ball coach in April 2024, but his tenure lasted only till October .
It was reported that he resigned due to differences with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi. But the former South African cricketer, who coached India to the 2011 World Cup win, has now finally revealed what forced his exit from Pakistan.
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Agendas and outside influence drove Kirsten away from Pakistan
Kirsten revealed that there's too much influence of non-cricketing people on cricketing matters in the PCB. He also did not like the fact that, despite being the coach, he was not able to shape the team in the way he wanted.
'It was a tumultuous few months,' Kirsten was quoted as saying by Wisden. 'I realised quite quickly I wasn't going to have much of an influence. Once I was taken off selection and asked to take a team and not be able to shape the team, it became very difficult as a coach then to have any sort of positive influence on the group.'
'Cricket teams need to be run by cricket people,' said Kirsten. 'When that's not happening and when there's a lot of noise from the outside that's very influential noise, it's very difficult for leaders within the team to walk a journey that you feel like you need to walk in order to take this team to where it needs to go.'
Kirsten bemoaned the lack of focus while working with the Pakistan cricket team and 'dealing with other agendas'. He, however, felt that the Pakistan players could do well if they were allowed to work without interference.
'I'm too old now to be dealing with other agendas, I just want to coach a cricket team, work with the players – I love the Pakistan players, they're great guys. I had a very short period of time with them and I feel for them. More than any other team in the world, they feel the pressure of performance massively, when they lose it's hectic for them and they feel that.
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'But they're professional cricketers and I'm a professional cricket coach. When we get into that environment, there are generally certain things you do to help a team be the best that they can be, and when there's no interference, you go down the road, and if it's a talented group of guys, you're generally going to have success,' said Kirsten.
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