Jason Gillespie, Pakistan's former red ball head coach, has stated that interim head coach Aaqib Javed and the national selectors must accept responsibility for the team's dismal performance in the ICC Champions Trophy.

Pakistan was eliminated early in the group stage itself after losing to New Zealand and India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Gillespie went on to say that while he was the head coach of Pakistan cricket, he had a feeling something was going on behind the scenes.

“We saw the results were not good enough. Ultimately, he (Aaqib) has to bear the responsibility. He wanted complete control (of the affairs of the team) and he got it. The national selectors also have a lot of responsibility to take for the squad they picked to play in the tournament," said Gillespie to Pakistan’s Saj Sadiq.

“I always felt there were things going on behind the scenes I was not aware of. And it didn’t surprise me when he (Aaqib) was announced as interim coach. In my opinion, it (Aaqib’s appointment) was always on the cards that this was going to happen. You can read into it as you want," Gillespie said in a video posted on social media.

Gillespie blamed Aaqib for undermining him and white-ball coach Gary Kirsten.

“He made it clear he wanted to be chief selector and he made it clear how he wanted the team to go about their work. He wanted complete control and he got it,” Gillespie added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hired Gillespie and Kirsten as head coaches on two-year contracts.  

However, within 6-8 months of the duo's hiring, ties between the foreign coaches and the PCB deteriorated following the formation of a new selection committee, which includes Aaqib as a senior selector alongside Azhar Ali, Asaad Shafiq, Aleem Dar, and Hasan Cheema.

The new selection committee took over after Pakistan lost 0-2 at home to Bangladesh in a World Test Championship series.

The two international experts resigned one after the other in late 2024, claiming that they had been deprived of authority and were kept in the dark by the selection committee.

(PTI inputs)