Gary Kirsten’s premature exit as Pakistan’s white-ball coach was one of the biggest talking points in the cricketing circle last year.

The South African legend stepped down as head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I teams just six months after getting appointed to the role in April 2024.

Kirsten reportedly had disagreements with the PCB since the board decided to strip coaches of selection powers. During his brief tenure, the Men in Green suffered a humiliating group-exit from the T20 World Cup 2024 after losing to co-host USA and arch-rivals India.

Recently, Kirsten reflected on his short stint as Pakistan’s white-ball coach and revealed why he relinquished the position.

"It was a tumultuous few months. I realised quite quickly I wasn’t going to have much of an influence. Once I was taken off selection and asked to take a team and not be able to shape the team, it became very difficult as a coach then to have any sort of positive influence on the group," Kirsten told Wisden.

While Kirsten remains open to a return to Pakistan’s coaching setup, the 57-year-old stressed that he would do so only under the right circumstances.

"If I got invited back to Pakistan tomorrow, I would go, but I would want to go for the players, and I would want to go under the right circumstances," he said.

Kirsten also emphasized the challenge of operating within a PCB structure where cricket isn’t necessarily led by those who have played the game.

"Cricket teams need to be run by cricket people. When that’s not happening and when there’s a lot of noise from the outside that’s very influential noise, it’s very difficult for leaders within the team to walk a journey that you feel like you need to walk in order to take this team to where it needs to go," he remarked.

The 2011 World Cup-winning coach made it clear that he doesn't want to deal with politics and other agendas outside cricket and just wants to focus on his job as a coach. He also commented the Pakistani cricketers and highlighted the intense scrutiny they face after a loss.

"I’m too old now to be dealing with other agendas, I just want to coach a cricket team, work with the players – I love the Pakistan players, they’re great guys. I had a very short period of time with them and I feel for them. More than any other team in the world, they feel the pressure of performance massively, when they lose, it’s hectic for them, and they feel that. But they’re professional cricketers and I’m a professional cricket coach. When we get into that environment, there are generally certain things you do to help a team be the best that they can be, and when there’s no interference, you go down the road, and if it’s a talented group of guys, you’re generally going to have success," he concluded.