PCB appoints Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie as cricket coaches for Pakistan team

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie to two-year terms as head coaches in white-ball and red-ball cricket, respectively, on Sunday.

Azhar Mahmood, who was the ad-hoc head coach for the five-match T20 series against New Zealand, was named assistant coach in all three formats — Tests, ODIs and T20s.

Kirsten will take charge of the Pakistan team immediately after completing his assignment in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he is serving as batting coach and mentor to 2022 champion Gujarat Titans.

Pakistan is scheduled to play seven Twenty20s next month — three against Ireland and four against England — ahead of the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean in June. Kirsten is hoping to join the Pakistan team in England.

Pakistan had been looking for a long-term coach after last year’s 50-over World Cup in India where the team was coached by Mickey Arthur. Mohammad Hafeez briefly took charge of the team for the tours of Australia and New Zealand before Mahmood coached the team during the drawn T20 series against the Black Caps.

"My goal is to unite the Pakistan men’s white-ball team, harnessing their considerable talents towards a common objective, and achieving success together on the field,” Kirsten said in a statement issued by the PCB on Sunday.

Kirsten, 56, played 101 Test matches and 185 ODIs for South Africa scoring 14,087 runs with 34 centuries. He played in three World Cups between 1996-2003 before coaching the World Cup winning India team in 2011.

Kirsten has also coached the South Africa team from 2011-13 and led them to the No. 1 position in the ICC's test rankings.

He has also several IPL franchises including Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Daredevils, now known as Delhi Capitals.

Gillespie will take charge of Pakistan’s red-ball team in August when the team will play home matches for the World Test Championship against Bangladesh. The series will be followed by test matches against England in October before the team tours South Africa for WTC matches in December.

"I love test cricket and being able to focus on that is something I like very much,” Gillespie said. "I like to think that I can help in some way to grow and develop the players. I want to win tests - that is why I am taking this role. I love winning and I know we have got the skill to make that happen.”

Gillespie, 49, played 71 test matches and 97 ODIs for Australia between 1996-2006 and took 402 wickets. He was part of Australia’s 2003 World Cup winning squad in South Africa.

Gillespie coached Yorkshire to back-to-back County Championship titles in 2014 and 2015 and has also coached Zimbabwe from 2010-2012.

Associated Press