Pakistani cricket fell into a familiar tumult when Kirsten resigned as head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I teams on Monday. He was six months into his two-year contract and left on the eve of Pakistan’s white-ball tour of Australia.
Kirsten, who was at the helm of India’s 2011 World Cup triumph, leaves the post without having coached Pakistan in a single ODI.
Even by PCB standards, the public struggles have been messy and threaten to deter future international coaches. Prominent candidates Shane Watson and Darren Sammy were previously sounded out earlier this year before turning down offers to coach the national team.
“When you are looking for international coaches, with the kind of backlash you are likely to face following the resignation of Gary Kirsten… it will not be an easy and straightforward task for Pakistan to hire international talent,” Ramiz said to journalists during a media interaction. before the tour in Australia.
“What you need to do is make sure that once you involve and hire someone, you need to explain their role clearly.
“I don’t know if that clarity was given to Gary Kirsten or how he wanted to take Pakistan into that one-day phase, what he wanted to achieve. I’m not aware of that.
“It’s not good news [Kirsten’s departure] because Pakistan needed an experienced hand. From a distance, it doesn’t look good right before a tour.”
A rift had developed between Kirsten and Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s new Test coach, and the PCB since the board decided to strip them of their selection powers following Pakistan’s first Test defeat against the ‘England.
PK Press Club understands that Gillespie, who will replace Kirsten on the Australia tour, has also not been completely impressed with the recent changes. A new selection panel – a third in three months – was formed and, unusually, included arbitrator Aleem Dar.
“I don’t know if there’s an arbiter who picks, so the jury’s still out,” Ramiz said. “I always believe that a leader in cricket has an important role to play. You cannot run cricket from the sidelines. The leader has to be made accountable and the only way to make him accountable is to give him powers.”
Pakistan will arrive in Australia with not only a new white-ball coach in Gillespie, but also with Mohammad Rizwan taking over as captain after the recent resignation of Babar Azam.
It promises to be a tough initiation for Rizwan, who will lead a relatively inexperienced side for a trio of ODIs and T20Is against Australia.
“He has his chance and what he needs to do is assert his authority and maybe get the players he wants,” Ramiz said of Rizwan. “At the moment there is a bit of a hodgepodge where the selection committee names the playing XI. I’m not sure if that happens anywhere else in the world.
“I just hope Rizwan gets his playing XI that he feels comfortable with.”
After being widely lambasted for upsetting Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood during a television interview after the England series, Ramiz called for “calm and calm” within Pakistan cricket.
“I think it’s important that all stakeholders understand the value of a non-controversial start to what appears to be an extremely onerous timetable,” he said.
“I just hope things improve. I think Pakistan were clearly in dire straits against England, and luckily the series was won. I just hope they continue that momentum even though it’s a different format.
“But it’s [Pakistan cricket] It’s difficult terrain, it’s a difficult area to govern because things are moving very quickly.”
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
