Pakistan Cricket Turmoil: Gillespie's Strong Critique of Aaqib Javed
The knives are still out in Pakistan cricket, and this time Jason Gillespie is swinging one of the sharpest.
The former Pakistan Test coach has launched a stinging attack on chairman of selectors Aaqib Javed and the Pakistan Cricket Board after seven players and two coaches were abruptly sent home from England in the middle of a bruising Test series.
Turmoil in the middle of a tour
Pakistan’s tour had already gone off the rails. An innings-and-103-run hammering at Headingley, followed by a 194-run defeat at Lord’s, left the visitors exposed and anxious. The PCB’s response was ruthless.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were among those told to pack their bags earlier this week. In all, seven players were axed, two coaches removed, and a fresh batch of replacements drafted in. Control of the Test side was handed to white-ball coach Mike Hesson.
The message from the board was clear: change, and change now. The message from Gillespie is just as clear: look higher up.
“Look in the mirror”
Speaking to Code Sports on Friday, Gillespie did not bother with diplomacy. He went straight for Aaqib Javed, who doubles as director of high performance.
“I feel for the players, this is these guys livelihoods. From the outside, it looks like they are playing with fear,” Gillespie said, highlighting the chaos around selection and leadership.
He pointed to Salman Ali Agha as the most jarring example of that chaos. Salman captained Pakistan in the first Test against England. By the second, he was out of the side. Before the third, he was on a flight home.
“How does that work?” Gillespie asked, a question that hangs over the entire tour.
For him, the problem is not just poor results. It is the complete absence of a coherent plan.
“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.
Blame game turns ugly
The bitterness between the two former fast bowlers has been simmering for some time. Javed has publicly accused Gillespie and former head coach Gary Kirsten of failing to communicate with him and of ignoring his input during their stints with Pakistan.
Gillespie has repeatedly rejected that version. Now, with Pakistan in disarray, he has gone harder than ever, accusing Javed of deflecting responsibility.
“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,” Gillespie said.
Then came the line that will sting in Lahore.
“I think Javed needs to look at himself in the mirror.”
Players finding out through the grapevine
If the sackings were brutal, the way they were communicated has drawn even more anger.
According to Gillespie, players did not hear from the chairman of selectors, or from a formal PCB channel. They heard from whispers.
“There is definitely no communication between Aaqib Javed, who is meant to be chairman of selectors, and the players,” he said. “The players who were sacked heard it through family and friends and the media that they had been sacked.”
For an international side already struggling with confidence, that kind of uncertainty cuts deep. It feeds exactly what Gillespie described: fear.
Edgbaston looming over a fractured setup
On the field, the numbers tell their own story. An innings-and-103-run defeat at Headingley. A 194-run loss at Lord’s. Two heavy blows, and now a third Test to come at Edgbaston on September 9.
Off the field, the picture is even messier. Seven players gone, two coaches sent home, a white-ball coach taking charge of the red-ball side, and a chairman of selectors under fire from a former national coach who insists the wrong people are being blamed.
The third Test will not just be about salvaging pride in Birmingham. It will be a measure of whether this shaken dressing room can shut out the noise, or whether Pakistan’s season is about to unravel even further under the weight of its own decisions.
