Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie confirmed as head coach and assistant coach of Pakistan cricket team- Report

Former India head coach Gary Kirsten along with former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie, are set to join as the head coach and the assistant coach of the Pakistan national cricket team respectively. The duo is said to be handling only the team's white-ball affairs and the PCB is apparently keeping their search on for a new Test team coach.

This news comes days after the apex cricketing board of the country sacked left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi as the captain and re-appointed star batter Babar Azam in the leadership role. Babar will resume captaining the ODI and T20I side while left-hand batsman Shan Masood is expected to remain the Test captain. 

The arrival of Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie comes as a sigh of relief for the Pakistan cricket board who were searching for a new head coach for the last 3 months. The board, when they were under Zaka Ashraf as the chairman, had been exploring one option after another but no one was agreeing.

Then came the new chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who made it clear that he wants to bring on-board a foreign coach as the team had tried out Mohammad Hafeez as the team director. Hafeez did not make any impact during his time and that ruled out all possibilities of him taking over the head coaching role. 

Wait finally over for PCB

Pakistan Cricket Board then held meetings with former Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson and West Indies legend Darren Sammy. It was being said that Watson had agreed to PCB's offer on certain demands but he later backed off due to informations being leaked about his salary and other clauses.

Sammy, on the other hand, had said a clear no because of his commitment to the West Indies white ball team. And now in the most latest development, the PCB have agreed deals with Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie for the management job. 

Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie's previous head coaching stints  

Gary Kirsten, who is currently a part of the Gujarat Titans coaching staff led by Ashish Nehra, is truly a legendary coach in the history of Indian cricket. It was under his head coaching that team India lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 title, held on home soil for the first time in 28-years.

The team had MS Dhoni as the captain and also consisted of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan among others. Kirsten left the Indian team after helping them claim the World Cup.

His assistant coach in the Pakistan national team, Jason Gillespie also has some experience of head coaching a cricket team. After hanging his boots in 2008, Gillespie got his first coaching job with the Mid West Rhinos in Zimbabwean franchise league from 2010-2012.

He then moved to English county club Yorkshire on a 4-year-deal before being appointed as Interim coach of Papua New Guinea in 2017.

Gillespie then inked a 2-year-deal with Sussex fro 2018-2020. And since 2020, the Australian has been serving as the Head Coach of South Australia.

So, both Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie will bring in expertise in their departments and are expected to revive the Pakistani team once again.