Veteran cricketer and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has opened up on his former teammate Jason Gillespie’s role as Pakistan team’s Test coach saying that the former pacer’s record has been good with at every team that he has worked with.
“[Jason] Gillespie is a bit like Gautam Gambhir. Pretty much everywhere he has been, his coaching record has been very, very good. He will have some challenges I got no doubt about it. But he is a deep thinker and as I said, a quiet person that goes about it in his own way,” Ponting said.
The ex-pacer was appointed as Pakistan’s red-ball coach before the T20 World Cup 2024 and the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh will be his first assignment as the coach.
“We’ve got a few WhatsApp groups over the years, all of us old guys that have played together. So everyone’s congratulated him [Gillespie] and wished him luck in that role,” Ponting said.
He also compared his former teammate with India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir before adding that the Aussie will have some challenges with the Green Shirts.
The former Australian skipper added that the changes in Pakistan’s coaching setup were not surprising following their abysmal T20 World Cup campaign where the Babar Azam-led unit suffered a group-stage exit for the first time in the tournament’s history.
“And look, to be honest, I am not surprised at all by the amount of changes in that group. I know it is a different format but they had a very disappointing T20 World Cup. If you are not willing to make some changes, you’re expecting similar results to come your way,” he added.
Squads
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumar Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal (subject to Fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper) and Shaheen Shah Afridi
