Kirsten to resign as Pakistan’s ODI and T20I coach

Former South Africa international Gary Kirsten has resigned as the head coach of Pakistan's ODI and T20I sides just six months into his two-year contract, according to multiple media outlets.

Kirsten, who was appointed on April 2024, is stepping down just a day after Mohammad Rizwan was named Pakistan's white-ball captain and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced new central contracts.

According to ESPNCricinfo, a rift had been developing between Pakistan's newly-appointed coaches, Kirsten and Jason Gillespie, who coaches them in Tests, and the PCB since the board decided to strip them of selection powers, with that authority exclusively the preserve of a selection committee they would no longer be a part of.

After Pakistan lost the first Test against England, a new selection panel - a third in three months - was announced. Aaqib Javed, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Hassan Cheema were on it, while the coaches and captain were taken off.

Gillespie had made little effort to conceal his surprise at the events in the build-up to the third Test in Rawalpindi against England, saying he was now just a "match-day analyst", and that "it wasn't what he signed up for."

Kirsten did not make a public statement but was understood to be disappointed with the developments.