Pakistan cricket hits new low: Former coach labels current coach Aaqib Javed 'clown'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was the host of this year’s Champions Trophy tournament. The tournament had been making headlines ever since India decided not to travel to Pakistan for the tournament. Later, Pakistan was eliminated in the first stage of the competition, and we saw the captain, coach, and players trying to justify the team’s poor performance. Now, former coach Mickey Arthur has addressed the ongoing conflict between Pakistan's current coach Aaqib Javed and former coach Jason Gillespie.

Mickey Arthur, a former Australian player, had served as Pakistan’s coach from 2016 to 2019. Arthur expressed his agreement with Gillespie’s comments, stating “What Gillespie said really resonated with me. Pakistan cricket has a lot of excellent players. There are many young talents with great abilities. Yet, they are currently in a big mess. This is truly disappointing. Pakistan cricket just continues to shoot itself in the foot. It is its worst enemy"

Aaqib Javed, explaining Pakistan’s early exit from the Champions Trophy, remarked, "In the last two and a half years, we've changed 16 coaches and 26 members of the coaching staff. If this happened to any team in the world, their performance would be the same."

However, Jason Gillespie responded harshly to this: “This is hilarious. Aaqib was clearly undermining Gary and I behind the scenes , campaigning to be the coach in all formats. He’s a clown.”

Gary Kirsten, a former South African cricketer, was the coach who led India to an ODI World Cup victory, while Gillespie was part of the Australian team that won the World Cup twice. Mickey Arthur lamented the situation in Pakistan cricket, saying, "Despite the potential, the system keeps undermining these efforts, with agendas constantly being pushed in the media. It’s a jungle out there, and I genuinely feel sorry for both Gary and Jason."