Former South African cricketer and coach Gary Kirsten, who led his team to victory at the 2011 World Cup, has shared his insights into his brief time with the Pakistan national team. He took on the white-ball coaching role in April 2024 but resigned after just six months, citing a lack of control over decision-making as the main reason.
Kirsten stated that he quickly realized he wouldn’t be able to make the kind of impact he hoped for. Although he started with optimism, it soon became clear that his position wouldn’t come with the authority or support needed to make significant changes within Pakistan’s white-ball setup.
His departure occurred not long after the then Pakistan Test team head coach, Jason Gillespie, also resigned. Gillespie, who had been in charge during Pakistan’s historic ODI series win in Australia, similarly left due to frustrations within the system.
Kirsten, who was also batting coach for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), hasn’t ruled out a return to coaching Pakistan. He indicated he would consider a coaching role again if the conditions allowed him to do his job properly, without interference.
Despite his short tenure, Kirsten remains a highly respected figure in coaching. His experience highlights ongoing challenges with the management and organization of the Pakistan team.
“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,” Kirsten said on the Wisden Podcast.
“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. 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 and 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.”
“But they’re professional cricketers, and I’m a professional cricket coach. When we get into that environment, there are generally certain things you do to help a team be the best that they can be, and when there’s no interference, you go down the road, and if it’s a talented group of guys, you’re generally going to have success,” he concluded.