Kirsten broke his contract and made some breaches: PCB Chairman Naqvi

It was widely reported that Kirsten, who guided India to 2011 World Cup triumph, resigned following a rift with the Pakistan Cricket Board after the coaches were stripped of their powers in selection matters.

Pakistan’s coach Gary Kirsten speaking at a press conference at the Cantiague Park in New York, ahead of their match against India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, on June 08, 2024 | Photo Credit: The Hindu/DEEPAK KR

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday said that South African Gary Kirsten ended his tenure as Pakistan white-ball head coach as he made “some breaches” of his contract with the Board.

However, it was widely reported that Kirsten, who guided India to 2011 World Cup triumph, resigned following a rift with the Pakistan Cricket Board after the coaches were stripped of their powers in selection matters.

Kirsten has so far not made any comments to give his side of the story.

Naqvi said Kirsten had ended the contract with the Board and it was not the other way round.

“He (Kirsten) broke his contract with the PCB and made some breaches. He ended the contract with us,” Naqvi told the media Tuesday night during an informal discussion.

He refused to make any more comments on the matter.

Though the PCB had not given the reason for Kirsten’s sudden resignation, sources have confirmed that it was because he was not involved when the Board announced the squads for the Australia and Zimbabwe tours and the new captain of the white ball format on Sunday.

PCB sources, on their part, claimed that Kirsten had breached some clauses of his contract, notably by not spending enough time in Pakistan and insisting on having a full foreign coaching support staff.

Naqvi said that the PCB had started the process of finding a new head coach of the white ball team and he had already spoken to some 4-5 candidates.

“We will have a new white ball head coach by the end of this month because Jason Gillispie has only agreed to manage the team in Australia for the white ball matches on an interim basis. He is more focussed on his role as red ball head coach,” Naqvi said.

“The team will have a new white ball coach for the Zimbabwe tour.” Insiders say that Aaqib Javed, a senior selector who Naqvi wanted to take over as Kirsten’s replacement, has said he is more interested in working on development of players and grooming of young talent at the National Cricket Academy.

Naqvi also said that the selectors had the authority to decide on whether to pick Fakhar Zaman or not.

Senior player Fakhar did not figure in the Pakistan squads for Australia and Zimbabwe tours as he is facing an inquiry from the PCB for tweeting in support of Babar Azam before the selectors dropped him for the England Tests.

“The issue of the show cause notice will be handled by a special committee of the board while the selectors have authority over selection matters.” Naqvi insisted he never interfered in selection matters nor had ever pushed for the selection of any particular player.

“I don’t interfere in the selectors and coaches work.”