Legendary Australian captain Ricky Ponting has thrown his weight behind his former teammate Jason Gillespie as the red-ball head coach of the Pakistan cricket team.
Gillespie was appointed as the head coach of Pakistan’s Test team in April and the upcoming series against Bangladesh will be his first assignment in the role.
The series against Bangladesh will be followed by Tests against England (at home in October) and South Africa (away in December) in the 2024-25 season.
Ricky Ponting spoke highly of Gillespie, commending his coaching credentials and drawing comparisons with the newly appointed Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir.
“Jason Gillespie is a bit like Gautam Gambhir. Pretty much everywhere he has been, his coaching record has been very very good,” said Ponting.
“He will have some challenges I got no doubt about it. But he is a deep thinker and as I said, a quiet person that goes about it in his own way.”
The former captain revealed that former Australian players had congratulated Gillespie on his appointment with the Pakistan team.
“We’ve got a few WhatsApp groups over the years, all of us old guys that have played together. So everyone’s congratulated him [Gillespie] and wished him luck in that role,” he said.
Ponting highlighted Pakistan’s underwhelming performance in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. He welcomed the recent changes in the coaching staff, emphasizing the importance of these changes in order to improve team performance.
“And look, to be honest, I am not surprised at all by the amount of changes in that group. I know it is a different format but they had a very disappointing T20 World Cup. If you are not willing to make some changes, you’re expecting similar results to come your way,” he added.
Notably, The series between Pakistan and Bangladesh is a part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25, with the first Test commencing at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from 21-25 August.
The second Test match will be played at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi from 30 August to 3 September.
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