“Very Difficult as a Coach”: Gary Kirsten on His Brief Time with Pakistan

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June 15, 2025 0 396

Gary Kirsten revealed that his time as Pakistan’s coach was tough because he lost his role in team selection and had little influence.

Gary Kirsten has described his brief tenure as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach as chaotic and ineffective. Appointed in 2024 on a two-year contract, the former South African batter was promised a key role in team selection. However, things changed after Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup group stage.

Following the loss, Kirsten was removed from selection discussions. With limited control, he found it hard to implement his vision. Kirsten chose to step down months before his contract ended, citing a lack of meaningful impact on the team’s performance.

“It was a tumultuous few months. I realised quite quickly I wasn’t going to have much of an influence. Once I was taken off selection and asked to take a team and not be able to shape the team, it became very difficult as a coach then to have any sort of positive influence on the group,” the former coach said while speaking to Wisden.

Gary Kirsten Open to Coaching Pakistan Again Under Clearer Conditions

However, Gary Kirsten added his willingness to return as Pakistan’s coach, but only if the environment is free of off-field interference. He pointed out the need for a setup where cricket decisions are made by experienced professionals without external pressure.

“If I got invited back to Pakistan tomorrow, I would go, but I would want to go for the players and I would want to go under the right circumstances. Cricket teams need to be run by cricket people,” Kirsten said.

When that’s not happening and when there’s a lot of noise from the outside that’s very influential noise, it’s very difficult for leaders within the team to walk a journey that you feel like you need to walk in order to take this team to where it needs to go. I’m too old now to be dealing with other agendas, I just want to coach a cricket team, work with the players – I love the Pakistan players, they’re great guys. I had a very short period of time with them, and I feel for them. More than any other team in the world, they feel the pressure of performance massively, when they lose it’s hectic for them and they feel that,” Kirsten concluded.

Meanwhile, Aaqib Javed served briefly as interim coach before Mike Hesson was appointed to the role.