Former Pakistan head coach Gary Kirsten has opened up on the differences between him and the Mohsin Naqvi-led Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that led to his exit from the job.
Gary Kirsten, under whom India won the 2011 ODI World Cup, had a short stint with the Pakistan senior men’s team between April 2024 and October 2024.
In October, he resigned as Pakistan head coach citing differences with the PCB over team selection, captaincy and external interferences. One of those key conflicts was when the PCB announced Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan’s white-ball captain.
Kirsten was not happy with the decision to appoint the wicketkeeper-batter captain.
Gary Kirsten opens up on differences with PCB
“The thing that surprised me probably more than anything was the level of interference. I don’t think I have ever seen it at that level before. Did it surprise me? I don’t know, but it was significant,” the former South Africa cricketer said on talkSPORT.
Kirsten added that a coach’s job becomes difficult if there is “constant noise from outside”.
Under Kirsten, Pakistan failed to advance past the group stage in the 2024 T20 World Cup that took place in West Indies and USA.
Pakistan managed to get just four points from as many matches, and their two losses came against India and USA.
“It is quite difficult for a coach to come in and formulate a way to work with the players when there is just this constant noise from the outside. It was tough, just this constant noise from the outside, and a lot of punitive actions around poor performance and stuff like that.
“As a coach, you are the lowest-hanging fruit when the team isn’t going well, so ‘let us get rid of the coach or let us put a restriction on the coach,’ because that is the easiest thing to do when the team isn’t performing – and that is counterproductive in my view. Then why recruit the coach?,” added the 58-year-old.
Under Kirsten, Pakistan played only T20Is as their focus was majorly on the T20 World Cup. Pakistan played nine T20Is during this period, winning just four and losing five, and this meant that Pakistan had a win percentage of just 44 under Kirsten.
Gary Kirsten’s newest coaching stint
Kirsten was recently appointed the head coach of the Sri Lanka men’s team, and he will officially begin his stint on 15 April. Kirsten was recently a consultant for the Namibia cricket team, who took part in the 2026 T20 World Cup.
He will remain Sri Lanka head coach till 14 April, 2028, and will be in charge of guiding Sri Lanka in their preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup that will be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
