Gary Kirsten, who served a short spell as coach of the Pakistan men’s national team in 2024, has been outspoken about what he perceives to be a toxic and invasive culture within Pakistan cricket. He commented on that subject again, as he reflected on reports that members of the national team would have to pay hefty fines following a diktat by the Pakistan Cricket Board, in the wake of a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign.
Now joining Sri Lanka as the head coach following a mentorship role for Namibia in recent months, Kirsten spoke to the BBC about the purported measures put in place by Mohsin Naqvi, which are nominally designed to incentivise performance by punishing failure.
“I’m not particularly shocked (by reports of Pakistan players being fined). For me, it’s just sad,” said Kirsten, who now knows enough of the workings of the PCB to feel pity for the players subjected to these measures. The Express Tribune reported earlier this month that the World Cup squad members would face a fine of PKR 50 lakh – a heavy amount following a showing at the Super 8 stage in the tournament.
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‘We talk the same language’: Kirsten on bond with PAK players
“I mean, those players are giving their all and I’ve got to know them well. You know, all of them. So I’ve got an emotional attachment to a lot of those guys,” said Kirsten, empathising with the team because of his personal connection to them “I saw them in Colombo and it was great connecting with them again. And they’re good guys. They want to do well for their country. So it’s never nice when you see that.”
{{/usCountry}}“I mean, those players are giving their all and I’ve got to know them well. You know, all of them. So I’ve got an emotional attachment to a lot of those guys,” said Kirsten, empathising with the team because of his personal connection to them “I saw them in Colombo and it was great connecting with them again. And they’re good guys. They want to do well for their country. So it’s never nice when you see that.”
{{/usCountry}}Kirsten lasted just six months in his role as Pakistan coach in 2024, becoming one of the victims of the PCB’s tendency to churn through coaches with minimal remorse. In interviews since, Kirsten has peeled back the curtain on a ‘punitive’ working environment, where coaches struggle to create any sort of rapport with the players, given the noise and the interference that comes in on behalf of the board.
“In the end, I just enjoy working with cricket players,” Kirsten continued. “And if you have cricket players, whether they’re from England, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, they’re cricket players, they’re professionals. We talk the same language. We connect on similar things, and we’re professionals in that space,” he further explained. “And you know, I enjoyed the Pakistan players, I did. I thought they were dedicated to the game.”
The culture within the Pakistan team certainly needs a big shift, if all reports are to be believed – but Kirsten, Jason Gillespie, and other overseas coaches have already decided it is not in their hands to solve it.