The two new head coaches of the Pakistan side, Jason Gillespie for the Test matches and Gary Kirsten for the two white-ball formats, didn’t enjoy a great time, as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed their former all-rounder, Aaqib Javed, as the interim coach of the limited-overs. When Gillespie took charge of the ODI side in Australia because Kirsten stepped down at the last moment, speculations grew on his future.
Jason Gillespie had a poor beginning during the Test coaching as they were blown away for a 0-2 series defeat at home against Bangladesh before being torn away against England in the first of the three-match red-ball series in Multan with an innings defeat, despite of putting over 500 runs in their first innings of batting.
Later, they showed incredible grittiness in the last two games to collect the series victory against the Ben Stokes-led side. When the green brigade made their trip to Australia for the three-match ODI series, PCB asked Gillespie to shoulder the responsibility of the Mohammad Rizwan-led side. They again displayed great performance to win a 50-over series down under after nearly two decades.
Jason Gillespie reveals why he refused Pakistan’s white-ball coaching offer
But later, the board named Javed their new interim coach of the white-ball side until the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, which they are going to host from the second week of February to the third week of March.
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Jason Gillespie, during his recent podcast on Willow Cricket, cleared the air on being omitted from the coaching of the limited overs, having come as a mutual agreement between the former Australian pacer and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“I was asked to do the white-ball tour of Australia after Gary Kirsten resigned from the Pakistan white-ball game. And I was still in Pakistan at that time, the team was flying out to Australia, and I was flying home with Tim Nielson, and we agreed to help and do the white-ball leg.” The 49-year-old acknowledged on the podcast.
“And then I did say to the Pakistan Cricket Board that if you are looking for a coach, I’m happy to have a conversation as I’m the Test (team) coach, and I’m comfortable in that role and like that. But if you are willing to have a conversation, we can.” Jason Gillespie shed light.
Coaching across formats has never been easy for any veteran player, who has already contributed so much to the team, having been away from the family for a long time. The former South Australia pacer stated that he declined the role as it would require him to burn a lot of time away from his loved ones in Adelaide.
“There were a couple of conversations to and for between my management and the PCB. And in the end, it didn’t come together. I declined the opportunity, and there were a few reasons for that. The main reason is the time away from home. I would have been away from home from now and up until March, which didn’t suit me or my family.” Jason Gillespie reckoned during the ‘Willow Cricket’ podcast.
In his short stint as the coach of the red-ball side, the veteran has already experienced so many ups and downs, but he responded on why he went after the coaching offer of the five-day format.
“I had a run with (Adelaide) Strikers and South Australia, which I enjoyed. The opportunity to coach international cricket doesn’t come up very often. I saw this opportunity just to do Test cricket, and I love Test cricket, and I thought I could fit into it.” Jason Gillespie concluded.