Jason Gillespie Critiques Aaqib Javed Over Pakistan's Test Crisis
Jason Gillespie has launched a scathing attack on Pakistan chief selector Aaqib Javed, accusing him of running a selection regime without strategy, stability or basic respect for players, after a dramatic mid-series shake-up left the national side in turmoil.
Pakistan, battered by heavy defeats in the first two Tests against England at Headingley and Lord’s, responded with a sweeping clear-out. Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were removed, seven players were sent home, and an entirely new backroom team drafted in ahead of the third Test in Birmingham on September 9, where Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke will take charge.
For Gillespie, who spent eight months as Pakistan head coach in 2024 and oversaw a 2-1 Test series win over England, watching the current implosion has been painful.
“I feel for the players, this is these guys livelihoods,” he told The Australian. From his vantage point, fear has replaced freedom. “From the outside it looks like they are playing with fear,” the former fast bowler said.
Nothing illustrated the chaos better, in Gillespie’s eyes, than the handling of Salman Ali Agha. The all-rounder captained Pakistan in the first Test against England, was dropped for the second, and then bundled onto a plane home before the third.
“Salman Ali Agha goes from captaining the team in the first Test against England to out of the team for the second Test and on the plane home before the third Test. How does that work?”
For Gillespie, the answer lies at the door of Aaqib Javed.
“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, turning the spotlight squarely on the man leading the selection panel.
The criticism did not stop there. Javed had recently tried to pin Pakistan’s current struggles on Gillespie and former white-ball coach Gary Kirsten, suggesting their tenures had left problems behind. Gillespie dismissed that narrative outright.
“Aaqib Javed came out recently and blamed (former Pakistan white-ball coach) Gary Kirsten and myself for everything that is going on,” he said. “Aaqib has been 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. I think Javed needs to look at himself in the mirror.”
The former Australia quick then turned to what he believes is an even deeper issue: how players discovered they had been axed.
Reports this week revealed that several Pakistan cricketers only learned they had been dropped when family and friends forwarded them the PCB’s official statement on social media. No phone call from the captain. No word from the coach. No message from the chief selector.
“There is definitely no communication between Aaqib Javed, who is meant to be chairman of selectors, and the players,” Gillespie said. “The players who were sacked heard it through family and friends and the media they had been sacked. How disrespectful is that?”
The backdrop to this storm is a series slipping away in brutal fashion. Pakistan were crushed by an innings and 103 runs in the first Test at Headingley, then beaten by 194 runs at Lord’s as England surged to a 2-0 lead in the three-match contest.
Under pressure and out of answers, the PCB reached for the reset button. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, opener Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, spinner Ali Usman, pacer Khurram Shahzad, all-rounder Aamir Jamal and batter Awais Zafar were all recalled, part of a desperate attempt to salvage pride in Birmingham.
Sarfaraz and Gul were removed from their roles, with Hesson and Noffke stepping into a dressing room that has been shaken, reshaped and publicly exposed in the space of a fortnight.
The third Test will now be about more than just the scoreline. With Gillespie’s words hanging in the air and Aaqib Javed under fierce scrutiny, Pakistan walk into Birmingham not only trying to stop England’s charge, but also trying to prove that someone, somewhere, still has a grip on the direction of this team.
