The Pakistan white-ball coach, Gary Kirsten, didn’t enjoy a great start to his new role as they start their preparation for the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA) with a 2-0 bilateral series defeat in England, before being knocked out from the group stage of the competition on the back of their back-to-back defeats.
The format changed, but not the luck and situation of the Green Brigade, as they were handed over a historic 2-0 margin series defeat at home by Bangladesh, who were much more clinical in both the bowling and batting department of the game.
Even when Gary Kirsten wasn’t on the coaching panel during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and the Asia Cup in 2023, the state of this country’s cricket was the same, which included their defeat to Afghanistan.
“We got a robust system in the country”- Gary Kirsten
Due to the poor situation of their game along with different aspects of the board, where they have been struggling with regularity, the senior members of the side, along with the two coaches, were present in their ‘Connection Camp’ in the presence of the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi.
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The former South African coach, during the press conference at the end of the meeting, shared that they would need to regain the pride in the country’s cricket, which coincides with the opening day of the camp, which brings together the players and management to discuss the cricket of the country.
“It was a fantastic time today to be part of this connection camp. I think the intention around it was to align our purposes for the team. I think we all agree we want the Pakistan team to be as successful as it possibly can be across all the formats.” Gary Kirsten expressed this in the press conference at the end of the meeting. “And we spend today just going through the various things that can help us and help the team be the best version of itself.”
Shaheen Shah Afridi was made the T20I captain of the Green Brigade during their series in New Zealand, where he struggled with his form and ended with a 4-1 series defeat. That was his first and last in the position before the board brought back Babar Azam, which has questioned the consistency of a decision.
“So I think, from the team and the players in terms of their levels of professionalism, was one thing that we spoke about that was important. And I think the commitments around making sure that they are. And present themselves as best they can for the for the nation, and to bring pride back into Pakistan cricket.” Gary Kirsten remarked during the presser.
The former Indian World Cup winning coach wants the team to win but, there have been measures that would be needed before they could resume winning games, series, and tournaments.
“I think we all want a successful team, don’t we, we want the team to do well in everything that they play in. And there’s no reason why it can’t. It’s a very talented cricket team across all the formats, but there are processes that you need to put in place. And this, and I think that’s what we focusing on.” The former opening batter of the Proteas elaborated.
“We want to know that we got a robust system in the country, that there’s competition for places, and that our team is unified in its approach to competing against the best teams in the world.” Gary Kirsten concluded.
The next white-ball series for the Pakistan side will be in Australia, as their eyes are on the upcoming Champions Trophy at home, scheduled to take place in February 2025.