[EXCLUSIVE] "Gary Kirsten will fit in nicely in the Pakistan team culture": Vernon Philander

[Cricket Warrior]

Who better to analyze the recent appointments of Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie to Pakistan's coaching team than Vernon Philander? The former South African seam bowler not only played alongside Kirsten but also had a brief coaching stint with Pakistan during the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Discover Philander's insights into Pakistan's new coaching setup, the current state of Pakistan cricket, South Africa's prospects in the upcoming T20 World Cup, and more.

Watch Saj's complete interview with the South African seam maestro here:

 

[Asad T]

Philander: "I think Kirsten will bring structure to that setup, during my time there, there was not a lot of structure in terms of how the nets were run, but he's a fantastic man-manager, and I think he'll connect with players on a one-on-one basis."

Seriously, how can the PCB not even manage their nets sessions properly. Such a joke of a sporting body.

 

[MenInG]

Philander: "I think Kirsten will bring structure to that setup, during my time there, there was not a lot of structure in terms of how the nets were run, but he's a fantastic man-manager, and I think he'll connect with players on a one-on-one basis."

Seriously, how can the PCB not even manage their nets sessions properly. Such a joke of a sporting body.

I just hope he speaks to Philander to get some background on Pak players.

 

[Shafi]

Maximum 6 months!!!!Loose another 1 or 2 series after World Cup failure Kristen will be kicked out.

 

[shaz619]

Maximum 6 months!!!!Loose another 1 or 2 series after World Cup failure Kristen will be kicked out.

Question is, how long do the current PCB set up have, are Pak free from political disruption in the near term?

If Naqvi and co are around for a while, they will have more of an opportunity to stick around a little longer then past coaches maybe

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Maximum 6 months!!!!Loose another 1 or 2 series after World Cup failure Kristen will be kicked out.

It would be a great lose for Pakistan cricket not Kirsten as he already had an acclaimed legacy. Without allotting him proper time and resources it would be futile to expect anything good.

 

[Asad T]

Philander: "I think Kirsten will bring structure to that setup."

 

[Saj]

Tough task.

Many big names have failed doing this role.

Pakistani players don't like tough taskmasters and Kirsten doesn't take any nonsense.

Interesting times ahead.

 

[Asad T]

Kirsten helped India win the World Cup in 2011. He also dealt with the pressure that toxic ex indian players, media and fans bring. So in my mind, if anyone can turn Pakistan around, it's him.

 

[Savak]

Tough task.

Many big names have failed doing this role.

Pakistani players don't like tough taskmasters and Kirsten doesn't take any nonsense.

Interesting times ahead.

Real question is how Kirsten deals with the clique of Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Shadab. It is imperative to take back control of the team from this group. They do not allow anyone to challenge the status quo or team culture, strategy. If left to Babar Rizwan, they will keep opening for eternity and Shadab will not allow other spinners to threaten his place.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Kirsten helped India win the World Cup in 2011. He also dealt with the pressure that toxic ex indian players, media and fans bring. So in my mind, if anyone can turn Pakistan around, it's him.

I really hope so. Kirsten is the perfect guy for this team that needs major changes in the whole system. Even if Kirsten managed a 5 percent change here, I would take it. 2 years is not much time to solve a system's shortcomings that have been there for more than 2 decades now.

 

[gazza619]

I guarantee you Pakistan is about to have a horrible World Cup.

You need honesty, righteousness, determination, unity kinda things to succeed in any team sport.

Even if Pakistan flukes the skills test, the other elements are clearly missing.

 

[Champ_Pal]

What can a coach doing players are not good enough to win?
Unless Kirsten is given free hand in team selection, things will not change much. Even then, it takes 1 or 2 years to completely change the look and culture of the team.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

What can a coach doing players are not good enough to win?
Unless Kirsten is given free hand in team selection, things will not change much. Even then, it takes 1 or 2 years to completely change the look and culture of the team.

At the moment , Wahab Riaz is running the show , bringing in and discarding player whoever he wants to...
Also becomes the teams Senior manager..

Kirsten and Gillespie had their own reservations in place , that is why they included coach and captain in the selection commitee , if those promises of giving them the power is mere talk from PCB then this appointments will fail...

Kirsten replaced Greg Chappell as Indias head coach , after some well thought out decision by BCCI after rounds of interviews until then he never coached an intl team... Also it was a very tough time to manage the dressing room with seniors like Sachin , Dravid , Ganguly and Laxman were there but the team exited CWC with a shocker.. from being the runner-sup in the last WC... He worked closely with Dhoni and transformed the team to win the next WC.. He kept Sachin but discarded Dravid, Kaif and Ganguly from the LOIs, replaced them with Gambhir, Kohli , Raina and Rohit in the bench..

 

[Saj]

Kirsten needs to be given proper authority regarding selection, tactics and planning.

If he isn't, then this will end in disaster.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Kirsten is a no-joke guy. Pakistan team should not miss the opportunity to learn a few things from him. Fans have already set the bar too high and have expectations that need some time to fulfill. 2 years is not that much of a time to get this team on track. I hope PCB is not mad enough to let him go if the things look even 1% better after his 2 years.