/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/cveC1Ujm1G8616M4r0gR.png)
Gary Kirsten and Pakistan Cricket Team (File Photo: Internet)
Former World Cup-winning India head coach Gary Kirsten has been in the headlines ever since he was appointed as the white-ball coach of Pakistan. The Pakistan Cricket Board has made this decision just ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Meanwhile, the management has also appointed the former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie as their coach in the Test format.
Returning to Pakistan’s white-ball coach Gary Kirsten, he came up with a statement about the plans for the team. The statement from Kirsten didn’t seem to go down well with the veteran Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad who termed the former’s stance as "weak statements".
“If you can win one of those three ICC Events, that will be an amazing achievement on its own, whether it's the upcoming event or it's two years from now,” Kirsten said during the PCB podcast.
“My job is to make sure that the team operates at its best, it's as simple as that. And if the team is operating at its best, we will always have a good chance of winning a trophy,” he added later.
“He is keeping himself in a safe position.” – Ahmed Shehzad about Gary Kirsten
While reacting to Gary’s statement, Shehzad also criticized the internal cricketing setup of the Pakistan Cricket and the way it works.
“Gary Kirsten is a renowned coach but he will be fed information by those who will select the team. He does not have a base in Lahore nor has he grown up in Pakistan to understand the nature of different players,” said Shehzad on Geo News.
“At the end of the day, those involved with PCB are the ones who will be guiding him and doing all of this 2 years will have passed by. Already he has made a statement that I did not like. Kirsten said that if we do not win the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, we might do well in the next two. So already he is keeping himself in a safe position. He must show confidence and these are weak statements. This is not how a winner talks,” he added later.