Gary Kirsten resigns as Pakistan’s T20I, ODI head coach

LAHORE – Gary Kirsten has resigned as head coach of Pakistan’s T20I and ODI teams over differences with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Reports said a rift between between Kirsten and PCB started after the board removed his selection powers, which will now solely belong to a new selection committee.

The resignation would bring a big challenge for Men in Green as they are set to to play T20I series against Australia. Gary Kirsten was appointed in April, alongside Jason Gillespie, who took on the role of red-ball coach, both under two-year contracts.

Reports further said that Aaqib Javed is likely to be appointed as new head coach for Pakistan’s white-ball coach.

A day earlier, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed Pakistan’s white-ball captain, while Salman Ali Agha has been named vice-captain as the selectors announced Pakistan’s squads for the ODI and T20I tours of Australia and Zimbabwe from 4 November to 5 December. Salman will lead the T20I side in Zimbabwe as Rizwan is rested under a workload management plan.

The 32-year-old Rizwan, who debuted in white-ball cricket in 2015, has played 74 ODIs and 102 T20Is to date, scoring 5,401 runs with four centuries and accounting for 143 dismissals behind the stumps. As he leads the team in the opening ODI against Australia in Melbourne on 4 November, Rizwan will become Pakistan’s 31^st captain. For the first T20I in Brisbane on 14 November, he will be the 12^th to captain Pakistan in the format.