Gillespie ‘sits on the fence’ as Pakistan aim to go all-in ahead of the series decider at Rawalpindi tomorrow.
Gillespie, Pakistan’s Test coach kept such praise at arm’s length when talking about Pakistan’s bounce-back win over England in the second Test.
Jason Gillespie made it apparent that he was not involved in nearly all of the choices made following Pakistan’s humiliating innings loss in the first Test. The PCB appointed a new selection committee shortly after the results were made official. It features Aaqib Javed and former umpire Aleem Dar. It denied Gillespie and captain Shan Masood any influence over selection decisions. Masood also stated last week that he would rather give the credit “to everyone else” for their contributions to the victory.
“The PCB came out and made some changes after that Test match,” Gillespie said ahead of the third Test. “It was decided that a new selection panel would come in and they would be making decisions. I was not involved in the decision-making, I was just there. I’m now just the coach on match-day strategy. I just keep out of things now and just focus on the players and getting them ready for cricket.”
When Gillespie was offered the position early this year, he was given a quite different task. He claimed that in order to ensure that “we’re moving in the right direction short term, in the medium term, and long term,” he had some “really positive conversations” with the chairman and the board at the time.
Gillespie’s objectives and aspirations when he took over the Test team do not seem to align with Pakistan’s late decision to bolster the bowling assault with spinners and set up a surface to support them.
“It’s very easy when you’re coming into jobs; you’ve got a two-year contract or a one-year contract,” he had said. “You make short-term decisions to look after your own back. But that doesn’t help anyone, because if everyone has that approach, nothing long-term gets done.”
Gillespie was aware of the significance of the last Test, since it may result in a series victory against England. He has developed strong bonds with a number of the team’s players throughout his brief tenure as coach. He is valuing both their human traits and cricketing prowess.
Gillespie aimed to more carefully instill in his athletes this capacity for composure. When the strain was on, Pakistan managed to burrow down at numerous crucial moments during the second Test, when England seemed to be swarming.
“There’s a lot of things in professional sport that you can’t control,” Gillespie said. “To be able to just park that and not focus on that is a skill within itself. Focusing on what we can control, the right things at the right times Staying calm when things are all happening. The way England played, they looked to create things all the time and the way we want to go against them is to by staying calm and not getting flustered. I thought we did that really well in the last Test match. I was really proud of the boys.
“You communicate with your players regularly. Talking about their games and how we can help them improve as cricketers and people. I’m very fortunate, I’ve got a wonderful support staff who have developed some really good relationships with our players and players will gravitate towards certain coaches over others at times. But if you all work as a team, that’s the most important thing.”