"Why Recruit?" Gary Kirsten Blasts Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan Cricket Board Over Work Culture

Gary Kirsten, India's 2011 World Cup-winning coach, has travelled the world guiding national sides and T20 franchise teams. After his stint with India, Kirsten joined South Africa. He had a brief spell with Pakistan in 2024, and he is now with the Sri Lankan national team. His tenure with Pakistan ended abruptly. He was appointed in April 2024 as head coach for two years, but Kirsten resigned in October, citing differences with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over player selection.

Kirsten has now opened up like never before about the difficulty of working with the Mohsin Naqvi-led PCB.

"The thing that surprised me probably more than anything was the level of interference. I don't think I have ever seen it at that level before. Did it surprise me? I don't know, but it was significant," Kirsten said while speaking to talkSPORT Cricket.

"It is quite difficult for a coach to come in and formulate a way to work with the players when there is just this constant noise from the outside. It was tough, just this constant noise from the outside, and a lot of punitive actions around poor performance and stuff like that.

"As a coach, you are the lowest-hanging fruit when the team isn't going well, so 'let us get rid of the coach or let us put a restriction on the coach,' because that is the easiest thing to do when the team isn't performing - and that is counterproductive in my view. Then why recruit the coach?" Kirsten added.

Just after the T20 World Cup 2026, Kirsten was appointed head coach of the Sri Lanka cricket team on a two-year contract starting April 15. Kirsten, a former South Africa opener who later built a successful coaching career, will remain in the role until April 14, 2028, and will primarily oversee Sri Lanka's preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup, to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

Kirsten was most recently associated with Cricket Namibia, serving as a consultant during the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

"Kirsten's primary responsibilities will include guiding the Sri Lanka national men's team in its preparation and campaign for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027," SLC said in a release.

During his playing career from 1993 to 2004, Kirsten was one of South Africa's most prolific batters, amassing 14,087 runs across Tests and One-Day Internationals, including 21 Test centuries and 13 ODI hundreds.

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