New Delhi [India], March 5 (ANI): Former Australia speedster Jason Gillespie took a jibe at Pakistan’s interim head coach Aaqib Javed for undermining them during their stint with the Men in Green and running a campaign “behind the scenes” to take their role across all formats.
Three months into quitting his job as Pakistan’s red-ball head coach, Gillespie broke the silence on his sudden exit and accused Aaqib of “undermining” him and the former white-ball head coach, Gary Kirsten.
Aaqib served as the chief selector when Gillespie and Kirsten oversaw Pakistan’s team across all formats. However, a couple of months into their respective stints, Kirsten left his role in October last year after six months into his contract.
After Kirsten’s abrupt departure, Gillespie was handed the task of managing the white-ball setup. Surprisingly, two months later, Gillespie decided to step down from his role, resulting in Aaqib taking over the responsibility on an interim basis.
Following Pakistan’s shambolic performance in defending the Champions Trophy and crashing out in the group stage, Aaqib deflected the blame on the Pakistan Cricket Board’s constant management changes, which resulted in the team’s poor performance.
Gillespie launched an attack on Aaqib for his remarks and blamed the former Pakistan quick for running a campaign behind the scenes to take the coaching role.
“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 shared on Instagram.
As a global cricket event returned to Pakistan after nearly three decades, New Zealand stepped up to spoil the party. The Blackcaps, buoyed by their success in the ODI tri-nation series, forced Pakistan to concede a 60-run defeat.
With Pakistan’s campaign in jeopardy and signs pointing towards the defending champions leaving their party early, the high-voltage encounter against India became a must-win affair. With the odds stacked against them, Pakistan paid the price for their sub-par attempts to orchestrate a victory in Dubai.
The defending champions needed a favour from Bangladesh to stage a victory over New Zealand. But the relentless Kiwis shut the Tigers down with a five-wicket victory, sending them to the exit door along with Pakistan. Their final game of the tournament, a dead rubber affair against Bangladesh, was washed away by persistent rain.
After an abysmal run in the tournament, Pakistan decided to overhaul the white-ball team to prepare for the future ICC event. (ANI)
