Gary Kirsten had mighty successful stint as a head coach with the Indian team, where they went on to win the 2011 World Cup as well. But then when he joined Pakistan as a coach, the results were hard to come by, and he left within a few months, in 2024. Now, some time has passed, and the veteran has opened up on the circumstances under which he left.
Too much interference reason for early departure
During an interview with talkSPORT Cricket, Kirsten clarified, that “constant noise from the outside” was the main reason, for his premature departure. “The thing that surprised me 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,” Kirsten said.
“It is quite difficult for a coach to come and formulate a way that you can 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.”
Enjoyed working with Pakistani players
He also opened up on how blaming the coach was the easiest thing to do, if the desired results did not come their way. “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 teams are performing and that is kind of counterproductive in my view. Then why recruit the coach?”
But then he made clear, that he did enjoy working with the Pakistani players despite the language barrier. “I actually really enjoyed working with the players. I think professional cricketers across the board in any culture are great people. We are cricket people. We love working together,” Kirsten continued.
“We talk the same thing, even though there was a language barrier. When you’re talking cricket, you’re kind of understanding what we’re saying to each other. So I thoroughly enjoyed working with the players.”
