KARACHI: Pakistan red-ball coach Jason Gillespie has identified consistency and discipline along with team mentality as the key to success as the Australian great is set to begin his journey in the green shirts.
In an exclusive interview with a private news channel, the former Australian cricketer also emphasized on managing players’ workload and said it is important not to burn players out.
Gillespie was appointed as Pakistan’s head coach for the red-ball team, with Gary Kirsten at the helm for white-ball cricket. The Australian said he has and will work with Kirsten on managing the players’ workload.
He also confirmed that he will arrive in Pakistan soon and there will be a camp for Test format players.
“I will spend some time in Pakistan and watch the players at home,” he said when asked if he would be in Pakistan quite often as he has another job as a selector.
“I am looking forward to getting to Pakistan. We’re hoping there’s a camp coming up which will include some fitness work and then we’ll build something into our skills leading up to the two Tests against Bangladesh.
“So we’ll put together what the camp looks like, what the time frame is and then we’ll go from there, but we’re very excited. And I’m looking forward to getting to Pakistan and meeting everyone on the PCB and meeting all the players,” he added.
The Australian said his method will involve using maximum tools to find out which player is ideal to play against certain opposition and under certain conditions.
He also made it clear that there will be a rotation policy to avoid player burnout.
“We will also make sure we look after all our players, especially our multi-format players, we have to be really careful not to burn them out because we want everyone to play to the best of their ability for Pakistan.” & every time they go out to the park. If it means that the players will rest from time to time, then we have to do it,” he said.
“It’s not just the actual days on assignment, it’s the training and the travel and all of those things combined. We don’t want to burn out our players, we want to make sure that every time they step into the park representing Pakistan, they are fired up, strong, robust and ready to give it their all. So that’s why we really need a team mentality.
“We can’t rely on the same 11 players to play day in and day out all year, we have to make sure we have a team mentality. I don’t want players to go 70% ready for a Test match.” I’d rather want them to be at their best to give them the best chance to perform well in Pakistan, which is really important to me,” added Gillespie.
He confirmed he had already discussed the matter with white-ball coach Gary Kirsten and the selectors and insisted the coaching staff must be clear with the players as they are their asset.
“We have a duty to take care of those people. And if we just go in and play them on every device, across three formats, especially all format players, then we’d be setting them up to fail, and we don’t want to set anyone up to fail, we want to give our players the best chance to succeed,” he said the coach of the Pakistan red-ball cricket team.
“And if that means we need to rest them and take care of them and give them a break from a streak or give them a break from a game here and there.
Responding to a question, Gillespie said he knows the by-products of coaching the Pakistan cricket team and is coming into the role with his eyes wide open.
“I’m a realist and understand that you may have some bumps in the road from time to time, but hopefully the plan will be to minimize them and maximize smooth sailing, which will only come with consistent hard work and discipline. And that’s certainly the Pakistan team I’m involved with, it’s going to be a very determined and disciplined unit,” he stated.
When asked if he was a fan of England’s brand of Test cricket “Bazball” and would like Pakistan to replicate it, the Australian said each team plays to its own strengths. He added that he would prefer others to see how Pakistan plays instead of Pakistan trying to see what others are doing.
The head coach of Pakistan’s red ball team mentioned that he wants Pakistani cricketers to be adaptive.
“I think it’s all about getting together with the playing group and finding out how they want to be perceived, what style of cricket they want to play. So I’m looking forward to having those conversations with the captain, with the players, with the support staff about how we want to play and ultimately we want people to look at us and see what we’re doing rather than everyone wanting to copy everyone else. “styles,” he said.
“For us it’s about going out there and being very disciplined, consistent and if we can, if we can do those two things, it will go a long way towards us playing very good Test cricket.”
“We need to be very adaptable to whatever conditions and opposition we face. In theory it might be good to say we score five times, but the situation and conditions may not allow it. I want us to be a very adaptable team and be able to adapt and play on different surfaces against different opponents.
I think as long as the players in the locker room and the coaches in our locker room are really clear about how we want to go about it. I think that’s the absolute key for me, just absolute clarity of roles, and going out there and applying our skills,” he said.
Talking about Pakistan’s chances in the ICC Test Championship and being placed between the top two teams, the coach said that it will be a challenge and Pakistan will choose to plan one series at a time.
“I mentioned discipline, I mentioned consistency, because the talent is there, the ability is there, we can match that talent with the desire, the work ethic, the attitude, all of those things to make sure we give ourselves the best chance to be successful and I’m confident we can . We want to make sure we are the best prepared team we can be,” he added.
Answering another question, Jason Gillespie said that Pakistan can always learn from their opponent and should go into every match with an open mind and see what other teams are doing well.
“I’m not going to come in and say we have to play like an Australian team. I want us to play as Pakistan team. And if we can take a lesson from everybody, any team we play against, little pieces of information that can help us be a better team,” he said.
He said supporters are “12. man’ of the Pakistan team but also urged them to continue supporting the team.
“I want the fans to be proud of this team and to be very supportive
