Gillespie hits out at selector Aaqib Javed for alleged lies

Former Pakistan Test coach Jason Gillespie has hit out strongly against criticisms and accusations of negligence from Pakistan Chief Selector Aaqib Javed.

Gillespie spent a tumultuous eight months, starting in April 2024, overseeing the red ball teams and the white ball teams for a short span. A significant milestone during his time was the 2-1 Test series win against England in the winter of 2024, who had whitewashed Pakistan at home two years prior. Javed had hit out at Gillespie and then-captain Shan Masood for their perceived negligence for not being able to beat the Englishmen after they had decimated Pakistan in the first Test of the series in Multan. Gillespie, recounting what was said, quoted Javed’s words regarding the issue.

“I think this is a bit personal for me as well. It’s a question that Aaqib Javed, who’s the chairman of selectors of the Pakistan cricket team. Why did Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie resign? And then he’s come out and been quoted, and I’m going to read it verbatim. Frankly speaking, they used to overrule every selector.

“They weren’t willing to listen to anyone. I went to Multan and spoke with Jason and Shan Masood, the captain. I asked them, what was your plan after the first test against England? They had no plan. I said, this isn’t going to work. We need to change both the pitch and the team. We brought in the spinners. Pakistan won. That’s when things started to go wrong,” Gillespie said on the Fast Bowling Cartel Podcast.

Pakistan played the second Test on the same wicket as the first Test, which they eventually ended up winning. Revealing the behind-the-scenes details, Gillespie said that Javed walked into the dressing room and told the team that the team would be changed, with the inclusion of spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, and that they would be playing on the same pitch as in the first Test. The former Australian fast bowler also revealed the criteria for the selection of players, a fitness parameter, which was also breached by Javed when he made changes to the team.

“You didn’t ask. You walked in and you said, this is what we’re doing, we’re changing the team. We are playing on the same surface that we just played a five-day test on in four days’ time, so it was going to be a day 10 or 11 surface. And I asked him, why are we doing that, we’ve got other surfaces prepared, because you’ve got to prepare the best surface, you play on the best surface available. He decided that they were going to change,” Gillespie further revealed.

“The reason we didn’t play the spinners was because we were instructed, before Aaqib and the new selectors came in, we were instructed that you could only pick players that had passed the fitness testing criteria. There was a 2K time trial, and if you didn’t satisfy that criteria, you weren’t allowed to pick them. So there were a number of players that we weren’t allowed to pick. So I communicated this with Aaqib. He said, I’ve spoken to the chairman, and we can pick who we want, I can pick who I want,” he added.

Gillespie also expressed frustration with the pitch curators, who were deliberating about putting sand on the surface to encourage turn and with their attempts to wear down the pitch artificially.

“What I had an issue with was with the pitch, was that I didn’t agree with the suggestion to sprinkle it with sand as well. Not only was it a 10-11 day pitch, to sprinkle it with sand, what? I don’t agree with that. That’s what I didn’t agree with. What I also didn’t agree with is when we went to Rawalpindi after that test match that we won, they had big industrial dryers on the pitch. And men, they’re scraping them with nails. So I didn’t agree with that either,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie further stated that Gary Kirsten, who was Pakistan‘s white-ball coach at the time, was let go after their loss in the first Test, after which the former Aussie fast bowler was made to step into the role. Gillespie pointed out the amusing nature of the issue.

“And you know the funniest thing about that? Gary Kirsten was relieved of his duties as a selector after a test match loss that we had. He last coached the white ball team three months ago. So he got sacked from doing nothing for three months.

“Like there was no cricket for three months and he was relieved of his duties as a selector. And then that’s when the team was, he’d been part of the process to pick the squad to go to Australia. And then Aaqib came in and changed the whole squad. And Gary actually said, well, what I didn’t, I wasn’t consulted on any of this,” Gillespie concluded.

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