Jason Gillespie: “I always felt there were things going on behind the scenes I was not aware of. And it didn’t surprise me when he (Aaqib) was announced as interim coach”
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Former Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has revealed that he always felt something was going on behind the scenes during his tenure.
He felt Aaqib Javed was orchestrating a lot of moves and “wanted complete control”.
Ultimately, Aaqib got what he wanted, according to Gillespie, as he was named interim head coach across all three formats.
This occurred after Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, who was brought in as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, both resigned.
Aaqib has now been named Pakistan’s Director of High-Performance, while former New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson has been appointed as the limited overs head coach.
“I always felt there were things going on behind the scenes I was not aware of. And it didn’t surprise me when he (Aaqib) was announced as interim coach,” Gillespie was quoted as saying by NDTV.
“In my opinion it (Aaqib’s appointment) was always on the cards that this was going to happen. You can read into it as you want.
“He made it clear he wanted to be chief selector and he made it clear how he wanted the team to go about their work. He wanted complete control and he got it.”
Pakistan have failed to impress in international cricket as of late as they were dumped out in the group stage of the 2025 Champions Trophy after going winless.
They then travelled to New Zealand and were beaten 4-1 in the T20I series and 3-0 in the ODIs.
Many of the Pakistan players have been taking part in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), which will conclude on May 25.
Once PSL 10 is over, Pakistan and Bangladesh will face each other in a three-match T20I series in Lahore from May 28 to June 1.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub
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