Former Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie has launched a scathing attack on chief selector Aaqib Javed, saying that Pakistan’s national team is “playing with fear” and accusing the selection panel of having no clear strategy at all.
The PCB this week replaced head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and pace-bowling chief Umar Gul, and sent seven players home from England in a dramatic response to successive Test defeats in the ongoing series.
Gillespie, who coached Pakistan for eight months in 2024 and led the side to a 2-1 Test series win over England, said the situation was hard to watch.
“I feel for the players, this is these guys’ livelihoods,” he told a foreign newspaper. “From the outside, it looks like they are playing with fear.”
He pointed to Salman Ali Agha’s abrupt fall from grace as an example of the confusion within the setup. Agha captained Pakistan in the first Test against England, only to be dropped for the second Test and sent home before the third. “How does that work,,” Gillespie asked.
The Australian placed the blame squarely on Javed. “It’s pretty clear they don’t have a selection strategy at all, particularly under Aaqib Javed,” he observed. “They change their mind like they change their pants, daily.”
Gillespie also pushed back on comments Javed made blaming him and former white-ball coach Gary Kirsten for Pakistan’s current struggles. “Aaqib Javed came out recently and blamed Gary Kirsten and myself for everything that is going on,” he stated. “Aaqib has been chairman of selectors for the past two years. We haven’t even been there. Somehow he claims it is our fault. Make sense out of that. I think Javed needs to look at himself in the mirror.”
Pakistan suffered an innings and 103-run defeat in the series opener at Headingley before losing by 194 runs at Lord’s. The third and final Test starts at Edgbaston on September 9.
Gillespie further criticized the board’s lack of communication with players, pointing out that there was no direct line between Javed and the squad. “There is definitely no communication between Aaqib Javed, who is meant to be chairman of selectors, and the players,” he said. “The players who were sacked heard it through family and friends and the media they had been sacked. How disrespectful is that?”
Several other former Pakistan coaches and players have voiced similar frustration with the board’s handling of the situation, including former captains Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik.
Former coach Mickey Arthur described it as “an absolutely ridiculous situation.”
New Zealander Mike Hesson, already Pakistan’s white-ball coach, and Australian Ashley Noffke have taken charge of the side for the remainder of the tour.
