Jason Gillespie Resigns as Pakistan Cricket Coach Following Kirsten's Exit

Jason Gillespie has resigned as the head coach of the Pakistan Test team, informing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of his decision on Thursday (December 12) hours before the team was scheduled to leave for South Africa for a two-match Test series.

The PCB has confirmed the resignation to Cricbuzz, with a spokesperson stating, "He has resigned," without further details. Gillespie's exit came after the PCB refused to renew the contract of his assistant coach, Tim Nielsen, with whom he had a strong working relationship.

Late on Thursday, the PCB announced that Aaqib Javed would temporarily assume the role of the red-ball head coach. Aaqib, who had previously been appointed interim head coach of the white-ball team after Gary Kirsten's resignation, is currently with the Pakistan team in South Africa for their upcoming T20I and ODI series.

His first duty in his role as the red-ball coach would be to see through the Test series Pakistan will face South Africa: SuperSport Park, Centurion from December 26-30 and Newlands, Cape Town from January 3-7.

This news follows a belligerent year for Pakistani cricket, wrangling with conflicts regarding the Champions Trophy against both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), of which no outcome appears in any specific near future.

Pakistan Cricket Faces Uncertainty with Frequent Coaching Changes

Former Australian fast bowler Gillespie became increasingly unhappy with several decisions made by the PCB and the situation relating to Nielsen's contract renewal ended up being the final straw. Gillespie was appointed earlier this year by the PCB for a two-year term, but he was frustrated in recent home series, including one against England, at the PCB leaving him out of key discussions.

This resignation comes shortly after Gary Kirsten's exit as the white-ball coach. Both Gillespie and Kirsten were hired by the PCB in April but Kirsten had already decided to quit in October. The swift succession of foreign coaches in Pakistan cannot be expected to fill any confidence in the replacements. The PCB's inability to retain coaches is fast turning into a worrying trend for Pakistan cricket.

Mixed results in his tenure were also there as Bangladesh whitewashed Pakistan in a home Test series (0-2) while he was there, but the same series saw a 2-1 series win against England, which Pakistan won by coming back from the loss of the first match. He also featured in the white-ball setup of Pakistan in Australia in November after Kirsten's resignation. Pakistan whitewashed England 2-1 in ODI while was thrashed 3-0 in the T20I.

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