Former Australia pacer and Pakistan team coach Jason Gillespie has called current head coach Aaqib Javed a clown. This came after Javed cited the reason behind the Pakistan team’s poor performance in the Champions Trophy 2025.
The Pakistan team will now travel to New Zealand for 5 T20Is and 2 ODIs. They have made a couple of big changes by dropping Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam from T20Is and Shaheen Afridi from ODIs, while appointing Salman Ali Agha as the new T20I captain. Shadab Khan was named the vice-captain of the T20I side as well.
During the press conference in Lahore, Aaqib Javed was asked the reason behind the Pakistan team’s decline. The 1992 World Cup winner then stated that PCB appointed 16 coaches and 26 selectors in the last 2 and a half years, and this has caused the cricket in the country to suffer.
“In our system, you can never completely rule anyone out. It’s not like we are putting a cross over their names and saying they are done. Right now, we are trying to shape a new approach and mindset. But that does not mean that experienced players do not have a role to play in the future,” Javed was quoted by PCB.
Before Javed, Gary Kirsten was appointed as white-ball coach, while Jason Gillespie was named the Test coach with much fanfare. Both Gillespie and Kirsten were appointed on a two-year contract before the T20 World Cup 2024, and the PCB had promised a new era for the Pakistan team.
However, Kirsten quit after the T20 World Cup, and Gillespie was sacked after he refused to take on the role of all-format coach without proper change in his contract and pay structure.
Meanwhile, Aaqib’s statement about coach changes generated a hilarious reaction from Jason Gillespie, who on the social media network Threads called Aaqib Javed a clown and accused him of badmouthing both Kirsten and him to usurp them as coach of the Pakistan team.
“This is hilarious. Aaqib was clearly undermining Gary and me behind the scenes, campaigning to be the coach in all formats. He is a clown,” Gillespie posted on Threads.
He got support from Pakistani fans as well.
