File photo of Gary Kirsten© X (Twitter)
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has warned national team head coach Gary Kirsten that he will be fired from his position after the Champions Trophy 2025. Pakistan have suffered a number of setbacks in the recent past with the latest one coming in the form of a humiliating 2-0 Test series loss against Bangladesh. Pakistan also had disappointing runs in the ODI World Cup 2023 as well as the T20 World Cup 2024. Basit said that it will be a huge achievement for the Babar Azam-led side if they can reach the Champions Trophy semifinals but added that Kirsten will certainly lose his job.
"Congratulations to Gary Kirsten. He will be at the helm of the team till the Champions Trophy. However, he will be fired after the Champions Trophy. I am saying this now that it will be tata, bye bye for him. It will be a big achievement for Pakistan to make it to the top four. They have also stepped into the politics of Pakistani cricket. They won't be successful," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
During a high-level camp organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday, white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten pledged to bring back 'bring pride back' into Pakistan cricket.
Following the series of setbacks, PCB held a high-level Connection Camp, which aimed to establish a clear and unified vision for the future of Pakistan cricket.
The camp was attended by nine Pakistan cricketers, including Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shan Masood.
Pakistan's red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie, white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, and High Performance specialist David Reid were also present during the camp.
Speaking at the press conference, Kirsten said that in the Connection Camp they went through "various things", which will help Pakistan cricket in the future.
"I think we all agree we want the Pakistan team to be as successful as it possibly can be across all the formats. And we spend today just going through the various things that can help us and help the team be the best version of itself. So I think, from the team and the players in terms of their levels of professionalism, was one thing that we spoke about that was really important. And I think the commitments around making sure that they are. And present themselves as best they can for the for the nation, and to bring pride back into Pakistan cricket," Kirsten said.
(With ANI inputs)