‘Aaqib Javed is a clown’: Jason Gillespie opens can of worms about Pakistan's interim coach, says ‘he campaigned…’

Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie, who abruptly quit as Pakistan's head coach towards the end of last year, has called the current interim coach, Aaqib Javed, "a clown" for his comments about too many changes in management. In the press conference on Tuesday, where Pakistan announced Salman Ali Agha as their T20I captain, interim coach and national selector Javed rued the lack of consistency in Pakistan cricket. Jason Gillespie and Aaqib Javed

"You want to take Pakistan cricket forward then you need to have consistency and continuity in policies in our cricket starting from the PCB Chairman to the players,” he told a media conference here on Tuesday.

“Since last year, see how many captains, coaches, selectors and board Chairman have changed. This is never an ideal situation for the team and it does affect their performances.”

“I think a coach can do only as much as he can sitting outside but he can’t go and play. I think some of our players need to start thinking about their game and how to be consistent performers," he said.

Taking note of Javed's comments, Gillespie said the former Pakistan pacer "undermined" him and Gary Kirsten and "plotted" to become the coach himself.

"This is hilarious. Aaqib was clearly undermining Gary and I behind the scenes campaigning to be the coach in all formats. He is a clown," Gillespie said.

Pakistan's too many coaches

Since the 2023 ODI World Cup, which marked the beginning of Pakistan’s decline, the team has already changed coaches three times. Mickey Arthur was replaced by Mohammad Hafeez, who was sacked before the T20 World Cup. Pakistan then brought in Gary Kirsten, the 2011 World Cup-winning coach, alongside former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie.

However, Kirsten’s tenure ended abruptly without him coaching a single ODI, as disagreements with the PCB over player selections led to his departure. Gillespie met the same fate, dismissed less than a year into his appointment as the Test team’s coach.

"I know there is a hectic international schedule nowadays but if you are going to play 70 percent T20 cricket and not go and play in four-day domestic matches you can never be prepared for Tests or ODIs and neither can you become a better player," Javed said.

"Unfortunately most of our players are just not taking time out from T20 cricket and are not making that sacrifice to go and play some four-day games to improve their skillsets.” Aaqib also pointed out that Pakistan’s poor showing was due, in part, to the failure of the fast bowlers to meet expectations during the Champions Trophy.

"The two places you get the most reverse swing are Karachi and Dubai, and unfortunately, this was something our bowlers couldn’t do. I have spoken to Haris Rauf and Shaheen and asked them to go back to work on their skillset,” he said.

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