“They change their mind like they change their pants”: Jason Gillespie blasts Pakistan’s mid-series overhaul

Former Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie has expressed his disappointment over the turmoil that the Pakistan team is in after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made major changes during the Test series against England. The overhaul was prompted by Pakistan’s defeats in the opening two matches at Headingley and Lord’s. Restructuring the squad, Pakistan decided to release as many as seven players and also removed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul. Gillespie, who spent around eight months in charge of Pakistan in 2024, was critical of the manner in which the situation developed. The former Australian fast bowler felt that these disruptions halt the consistency in the team.

"I feel for the players; this is these guys' livelihoods. From the outside, it looks like they are playing with fear," Gillespie told Code Sports.

"Salman Ali Agha goes from captaining the team in the first test against England, to being out of the team for the second test and on the plane home before the third test. How does that work?

"If you want consistency on the field there needs to be consistency off the field. That goes to board level, selection and ‌coaching level."

During his time with Pakistan, Gillespie had encountered mixed results. One of the highlights of his tenure came when Pakistan defeated England 2-1 in a Test series. Meanwhile, Jason Gillespie slammed Aaqib Javed, who is also the director of high performance.

“It's pretty clear they don't have a selection strategy at all, particularly under Aaqib Javed. They change their mind like they change their pants -- daily,” he said.

In the past, Aaqib Javed has criticised Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, pointing out that there was no communication with them, and that they both didn't listen to him.

“Aaqib Javed came out recently and blamed Gary Kirsten and myself for everything that is going on. Aaqib has been the chairman of selectors for the past two years. We haven't even been there. Somehow, he claims it is our fault. Make sense out of that. I think Javed needs to look at himself in the mirror,” Gillespie said.

“There is definitely no communication between Aaqib Javed, who is meant to be chairman of selectors, and the players, The players who were sacked heard it through family and friends and the media that they had been sacked,” he said.