"Kind of backlash you will get from Kirsten's resignation..." - Ramiz Raja warns PCB

Former Pakistan captain and PCB chairman Ramiz Raja feels international coaches will hesitate to join the Pakistan team following Gary Kirsten’s hasty departure before the tour of Australia. The World Cup-winning coach resigned as Pakistan’s white-ball coach earlier this week.

Pakistan’s red-ball coach Jason Gillespie was handed the added responsibility of coaching the white-ball side on their tour of Australia. However, the PCB did not clarify how long Gillespie would continue to manage the white-ball set-up.

"When you search for international coaches, with the kind of backlash that you will probably get from Gary Kirsten's resignation...it's not going to be an easy, straightforward job for Pakistan to hire international talent," Ramiz told reporters in a media interaction.

"What you need to do is to make sure that once you involve and engage somebody, you've got to give them clarity regarding the role. I don't know whether that clarity was given to Gary Kirsten or how he wanted to get Pakistan into this one-day phase, what he wanted to achieve. I'm not privy to that. It's not great news (Kirsten's departure) because Pakistan needed an experienced hand. From a distance, it doesn't look great just before a tour."

Both Kirsten and Gillespie weren’t impressed with the national board after they were removed from the selection committee following Pakistan’s defeat in the first Test against England. According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, Gillespie is also not happy with the new selection panel, also consisting of umpire Aleem Dar.

"I don't know about an umpire being a selector, so the jury is still out. I still believe there's a strong role for a leader in cricket. You can't run cricket from the sidelines. The leader has to be made accountable and the only way to make him accountable is to give him some powers."

Talking about Pakistan’s new ODI and T20I captain Mohammad Rizwan, Ramiz said: "He's got his chance and what he needs to do is to stamp his authority and maybe get the players that he wants. Right now, there's a little bit of hodgepodge where the selection committee is nominating the playing XI. I'm not too sure it happens anywhere else in the world. I just hope Rizwan gets his playing XI that he feels comfortable with."

Pakistan will play three ODIs, starting on November 4, and as many T20Is against Australia.

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