‘Gary Kirsten Broke His Contract With PCB, New Coach To Be Announced Soon’: Mohsin Naqvi

Last Updated:October 30, 2024, 19:17 IST

While addressing the media on Tuesday night, Mohsin Naqvi said Gary Kirsten had ended the contract with the Board and it was not the other way around.

PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi opens up on Gary Kirsten’s resignation

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has opened up on Gary Kirsten’s resignation as the team’s white-ball coach. The former South Africa batter stepped down from his post following a possible rift with the board after Naqvi & Co. stripped him and Test head coach Jason Gillespie of selection powers. However, the PCB chief alleged that Kirsten ended his tenure as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach as he made ‘some breaches’ of his contract.

While addressing the media on Tuesday night, Naqvi said Kirsten had ended the contract with the Board and it was not the other way around.

“He (Kirsten) broke his contract with the PCB and made some breaches. He ended the contract with us,” Naqvi told the media.

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 for the white-ball team and he had already spoken to some four or five candidates.

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

“The team will have a new white-ball coach for the Zimbabwe tour,” he added.

It has also been learned that Aaqib Javed has said he is more interested in working on the development of players and grooming young talent at the National Cricket Academy. The PCB chairman also said that the selectors had the authority to decide whether to pick Fakhar Zaman or not.

Senior player Fakhar did not feature in the Pakistan squads for the 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 said.

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.”

(With Agency Inputs)