"Acting very innocent now" - Basit Ali takes a dig at Gary Kirsten
Former Pakistani batter Basit Ali has slammed Gary Kirsten for making unreasonable demands during his tenure as the Men in Green's white-ball coach. Kirsten, who was given a two-year contract earlier this year, resigned just six months into the role.
Basit suggested that Kirsten had maintained that he would not coach Pakistan if Babar Azam was not part of the team. He also reckoned that the former South African cricketer wanted young keeper-batter Mohammad Haris to be the new white-ball captain following Babar's exit.
Speaking in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Basit said (3:51):
"Gary Kirsten is acting very innocent now. How can you say that I will not coach the team if Babar Azam is not there? How can you do that just for an individual? You wanted to make Mohammad Haris the captain. Why should we listen to you? Did you go to the Emerging Teams Asia Cup to see Haris? Let that kid play, why are you doing such injustice with him? You just watched the Emerging Teams Asia Cup on television."
Basit further stated that Kirsten was not in favor of Mohammad Rizwan getting the captaincy in ODIs and T20Is. He also alleged that the veteran coach didn't want pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi in the side, adding (from 4:30):
"Gary Kirsten did not Mohammad Rizwan to be the captain and Shaheen Afridi to be in the team. Is this Pakistan's team or Gary Kirsten's team? He got a shut-up call from Aaqib Javed."
Kirsten had a dismal run with the Pakistan team. During his tenure, the team suffered a T20I series defeat to England and a group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
"He stepped down at the right time" - Basit Ali on Gary Kirsten's resignation
Basit Ali opined that Gary Kirsten was spot on with the timing of his resignation. He remarked that there are a lot of politics going on within Pakistan cricket and the future doesn't seem to be bright.
The cricketer-turned-expert said in the aforementioned video (from 0:26):
"He stepped down at the right time. It was a well-thought-out move. Politics after politics. There are a lot of things but I choose to stay silent because Pakistan's cricket is getting worse and I don't want that to happen. Things will be worse in the coming days."
Basit also expressed his displeasure over Kirsten not allotting enough time for Pakistan during his coaching tenure, adding (from 6:44):
"You people say that Gary Kirsten is very good. What good? He has spent all his good time. Now he will again try to join IPL or PSL. He is running his own academy in Cape Town. Why do you even appoint such people who can't give time to Pakistan?"
Following Kirsten's exit, Pakistan's red-ball coach Jason Gillespie was named the interim coach for the team's upcoming white-ball tour of Australia.