Gary Kirsten opens up on challenges during his ‘tumultuous’ stint as Pakistan coach

Former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten characterized his tenure coaching Pakistan’s white-ball cricket team as extremely challenging, primarily due to significant administrative issues within the organization.

New Delhi: Gary Kirsten, a former South African international cricketer, has claimed that his stint as coach of the Pakistan white-ball team was not an easy one and administrational instability in the structure of Pakistan cricket was a major issue.

In an interview with Wisden a couple of weeks ago, Kirsten argued that he had little say in the selection of the players and as such he felt unable to coach the team members effectively.

“It was a tumultuous few months,” Kirsten is quoted as saying by Wisden.

“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.”

Despite facing difficulties, Kirsten expressed fondness for the Pakistani cricket team and indicated a willingness to return if conditions improved.

“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,” he said.

External pressures hinder a team’s success, and strong cricketing leadership is crucial to overcome these challenges, he emphasized.

“Cricket teams need to be run by cricket people,” said Kirsten. “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, 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.