The Pakistani cricket team has recently struggled to produce great performances, which has caused them to lose the ICC championship early. Following these underwhelming performances, there has been a noticeable shift and turmoil within their core group. Similar to this, there are rumors that their head coach Gary Kirsten expressed great dissatisfaction with the squad culture following their early elimination from the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Kirsten mentioned that there was “disharmony” on the team, which was something he had never experienced as a coach.
Pakistan, captained by Babar Azam, who finished second in the previous edition, suffered one of their poorest showings in recent memory. They defeated Ireland in a consolation match to wrap off their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, after suffering a shock setback to co-hosts USA and then losing to India, despite controlling the majority of the match.
Kirsten, who captained India to victory in the 2011 ODI World Cup, was frank in his assessment of the team following their withdrawal from the current T20 competition.
“The Pakistani team is not cohesive. It’s not a team, even though they call it one. They are all divided, left and right, and they are not helping one another. I’ve worked with a lot of teams, but I’ve never encountered something like this,” Kirsten stated, as reported by Geo News.
Kirsten Questions Pakistan Players’ Fitness & Skills
According to reports, Kirsten berated the players for their lack of fitness and their skills, pointing out that even though they had played cricket before, they were still confused about which shots to take.
“In terms of skill levels, they lag much behind the rest of the globe and their fitness levels are inadequate. Nobody knows which shot to play and when, even after playing so much cricket, Kirsten reportedly remarked.
Are Gary Kirsten’s Statements True?
But as word of his remarks on the Pakistan cricket team quickly circulated, an X user by the name of Himanshu Pareek shared a snapshot of a conversation in which he claimed Gary Kirsten had denied making those remarks about the Pakistan team on WhatsApp when he was pressed for an explanation.
“Certainly Not! “I don’t use social media and I only speak in public during press conferences,” the text on the screenshot of the WhatsApp message purporting to be Gary Kirsten’s response says.
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