Sports News | National teams are not the place to question a player’s value: Gillispie

Karachi, July 7 (PTI) – Pakistan’s new head coach Jason Gillispie on Sunday made it clear that he will not compromise on fitness and that it is up to the players to prove their value to the national team.

A few hours after his arrival in Pakistan, the former Australian fast bowler held a press conference and explained that once a player has been selected for the national team, there should never be any questions about his fitness, ability or mental attitude.

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“National teams are not the place where you question the value of a player. If there are any ideas about a player’s place, he has to change them through his performance and attitude,” he told reporters.

“My mantra is that we should only have fit, robust and strong players in the Test team because in modern cricket, no matter what format, fitness is a must.”

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Gillispie said while he would want his team to play positive cricket, he was not a supporter of the ‘Bazball’ approach to playing red-ball cricket.

“For me, Test cricket is always about playing session by session and taking the opportunity when it comes. The game is dictated by the opposition and the conditions.

“I want Pakistan to play in the authentic Pakistani style and create their own identity. I know Pakistan has the talent to perform well. It’s just a matter of training those players to work together and produce consistent results.”

Gillispie said he accepted the position of head coach because he has always found Pakistani cricket to be very exciting and challenging.

“Both I and Gary (Kirsten) are very excited about these tasks. I have discussed things with him and we can of course help each other to achieve our goals in red and white cricket.”

The Australian said it was the job of the selection committee to pick the brightest talent in Pakistan cricket, but he was looking forward to travelling to Darwin this month to play in the four-day match against Bangladesh as he would be able to see the talent up close for himself.

Asked about Pakistan’s World Cup debacle and calls to remove Babar Azam as captain, Gillispie said of course everyone was disappointed with the team’s performance but as far as leadership was concerned, the PCB was best placed to take care of the matter.

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