![\"'I](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133911564,imgsize-126382,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/133911564.jpg\" "\\"Aaqib")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFormer Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie<\/a> has doubled down on his criticism of Pakistan chief selector Aaqib Javed<\/a>, saying the selection committee chairman took control of Pakistan cricket and changed the direction the team was supposed to follow.Gillespie, who was appointed Pakistan’s head coach in April 2024 and resigned in December that year, said he was brought in with a clear vision of rebuilding Pakistan’s fast-bowling culture. According to him, that plan changed after Javed became the chief selector.\u201cWhen I came on board, they wanted to bring back fast bowling,\u201d Gillespie said, while talking to UK-based outlet The Telegraph. \u201cThis is what was sold to me when I took on the role. They wanted to prepare surfaces that would bounce and carry and would encourage fast bowling because they felt that fast bowling was dying. I was on board and thought: \u2018This is going to be really cool.\u2019”\u201cThe appointment of Javed fundamentally altered the landscape,\u201d he adds. \u201cFrom that moment, my relationship with Pakistan cricket completely changed. Aaqib came in and took over. It appeared to me that he was in charge of absolutely everything.”Gillespie’s comments come after Pakistan made drastic changes during their ongoing tour of England. Following defeats in the first two Tests at Headingley and Lord’s, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent seven players home, removed Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, and appointed Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke for the third and final Test in Birmingham starting September 9.There have also been reports that the PCB confiscated the phones<\/a> of some players in England as part of an inquiry into the team’s “discipline and conduct” during the tour.Senior players Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha were among the players sent back to Pakistan before Hesson joined the squad. Fast bowler Khurram Shahzad and spinner Ali Usman, who featured in both Tests, were also released, while all-rounder Aamir Jamal and batter Mohammad Awais returned home without playing a match.Meanwhile, Gillespie said working under Javed left him feeling sidelined and disrespected.\u201cI was totally disrespected and undermined and I direct that towards Aaqib Javed. At our first meeting he came in with bravado, bluff, and bluster, wanting to show he was the man in charge. He said: \u2018This is what we need to do.\u2019 I listened and said OK. But this kept on happening and I pushed back on a couple of his comments. I just felt from that moment on that it wasn\u2019t going to work because he\u2019d already decided what he was going to do. There was going to be no collaboration whatsoever,” Gillespie added.The former Australia fast bowler said Javed had the backing of the PCB chairman and the board, which made him feel untouchable.\u201cAaqib had the support of the chairman and the board and that\u2019s why he felt he was untouchable,\u201d Gillespie says. \u201cAs a coach, you feel compromised. He was not a collaborative chairman of selectors. He doesn\u2019t take on other people\u2019s ideas, thoughts, or opinions. He might think he does, but he doesn\u2019t. It was his way or the highway.”Gillespie also claimed the PCB still owes him money from his time as coach but said he was not willing to change his principles to stay in the job.\u201cThe PCB still owes me thousands of dollars, but I was never going to be a yes man,\u201d he says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to compromise on my principles, I never have throughout my career and I certainly wasn\u2019t going to change. I could have stayed quiet, agreed to everything and taken home my salary, but that\u2019s not me and part of me knew I was probably going to be sacked in a couple of months anyway.\u201dGillespie said Pakistan cricket remains trapped in a damaging cycle and lays the blame at the feet of Javed.\u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking for me to see what\u2019s going on now, it\u2019s a mess,\u201d Gillespie said, as quoted by Telegraph. \u201cI know the crux of it. It\u2019s Aaqib Javed. He is the problem and as long as he is there, then Pakistan cricket will continue to go backwards,” the former Pakistan coach said.<\/div>\n