Pakistan cricket team file photo.©AFP
Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie took over as Pakistan manager on Sunday and vowed to instil stability in the team with a hectic six-month schedule ahead. The 49-year-old begins his two-year term with a pair of series against Bangladesh next month, followed by a three-match series at home to England in October. Pakistan also play two Test matches against South Africa in December and two against the West Indies in January next year. Gillespie, who arrived early on Sunday, said Pakistan was a “talented” team but needed stability.
“I’m hopeful we can find some solutions as to how we can be more consistent,” Gillespie said at a news conference.
He will be hoping that Pakistan can improve on their ranking to fifth in the current World Test Championship cycle, which has seen nine teams take part since 2019.
“Ultimately we want to win Test cricket matches,” Gillespie said.
“We have some good cricketers here and how we play as a team and perform well against quality international opposition will be the key for us.”
A part of one of Australia’s most accomplished Test teams in the 1990s and 2000s, Gillespie played 71 Test matches, 91 One-Day Internationals and one T20I during his successful career.
He coached Yorkshire to win the English County Championship in 2014 and 2015.
Gillespie was hired to strengthen Pakistan’s Test match squad, which lost 1-0 to Australia in 2022 and suffered its first heavy 0-3 defeat at home to England the same year.
Pakistan were thrashed 3-0 in Australia last year – just their sixth shutout in Australia since 1999 – but Gillespie believes it was not a one-sided affair.
“As an outside observer, I think there were a few moments where Pakistan were dominant but just couldn’t finish the game well,” Gillespie reflected.
Pakistan were labelled as a poor fielding team in the second Test in Melbourne and the third Test in Sydney after dropping crucial catches and missing good positions.
He said Pakistan would have to get smart to counter England’s “highly aggressive” Test match style – dubbed “buzzball” after the team’s coach, Brendon McCullum’s nickname.
“England will definitely be a challenge but I think we’re certainly up to it,” he said. “We’re going to play very smartly.”
Pakistan, coming off painful first-round exits in both the ODI World Cup in India last year and the Twenty20 matches in the United States and West Indies last month under South African Gary Kirsten as head coach, will begin a Test series against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi from August 21-25.
The second Test will be played from August 30 to September 3 in Karachi.
They will face England in three Test matches in Multan (October 7-11), Karachi (October 15-19) and Rawalpindi (October 24-28).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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