Jason Gillespie, one of the most respected bowlers of his era, had a short stint coaching the Pakistan Test team. However, his association with the national team came during a time when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was at its most destructive. From changes in the support staff and selection committee to the playing XI, the PCB seemed hell-bent on throwing in the towel at every single hiccup. Gillespie, who was determined to bring Pakistan cricket back to its glory days, said that everything changed for him once Aaqib Javed was named the chief selector by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
“The appointment of Javed fundamentally altered the landscape,” Gillespie told The Telegraph in an interview. “From that moment, my relationship with Pakistan cricket completely changed. Aaqib came in and took over. It appeared to me that he was in charge of absolutely everything.”
Even for Gillespie, his roles and responsibilities with the Pakistan team continued to change right up until his departure. He said that the experience was such that it affected him personally:
“I went from looking after the Test side, managing that, looking after the players and the staff, and having a role in selection, to having absolutely no role in anything.”
“The whole experience just deflated me and put me off coaching. It affected me mentally, making me doubt myself and leaving me thinking whether I still wanted to be involved in the sport,” he revealed.
The former Australian pacer even revealed that the Pakistan board is yet to settle his compensation, saying he is still owed “thousands of dollars”:
“The PCB still owes me thousands of dollars, but I was never going to be a yes-man,” Gillespie said. “I wasn’t going to compromise on my principles-I never have throughout my career, and I certainly wasn’t going to change.
“I could have stayed quiet, agreed to everything, and taken home my salary, but that’s not me. Part of me knew I was probably going to be sacked in a couple of months anyway.”
“I knew Aaqib was sniping around behind the scenes,” he added. “That’s just who he is and the way he works. People in Pakistan cricket told me that Aaqib was sniping at me behind my back. I’m sick of him talking negatively about me. If he continues to do it, then I’ll start looking at taking legal action about that.”
Disrespected And Undermined: Jason Gillespie
Gillespie refused to mince words, saying he was “disrespected and undermined” by Javed, who is now the Director of High Performance in the PCB.
“I was totally disrespected and undermined, and I direct that towards Aaqib Javed. At our first meeting, he came in with bravado, bluff, and bluster, wanting to show he was the man in charge. He said: ‘This is what we need to do.’ I listened and said OK.
“But this kept happening, and I pushed back on a couple of his comments. I just felt from that moment on that it wasn’t going to work because he’d already decided what he was going to do. There was going to be no collaboration whatsoever.”
“Aaqib had the support of the chairman and the board, and that’s why he felt he was untouchable-as a coach, you feel compromised,” Gillespie revealed.
Jason Gillespie brutally COOKS Pakistan selector Aaqib Javed
“Aaqib is still chairman of selectors. He’s kept his job. He’s had a crack at Gary Kirsten and I, blaming us for where Pakistan cricket is where it is. Gary and I haven’t even been there for two years.”
“Yet, he has… pic.twitter.com/kIEWfzPvQk
— Brutal Truth (@sarkarstix) September 8, 2026
“He was not a collaborative chairman of selectors. He doesn’t take on other people’s ideas, thoughts, or opinions. He might think he does, but he doesn’t. It was his way or the highway. He just does what he wants because he is allowed to [because of] his close relationship with the chairman. That’s not an environment that I wanted to work in or be a part of.”
“It’s heartbreaking for me to see what’s going on now; it’s a mess. I know the crux of it. It’s Aaqib Javed. He is the problem, and as long as he is there, Pakistan cricket will continue to go backwards.”
“You get chairmen and people at the board sitting at desks picking the captain; it’s nonsense,” Gillespie revealed.
“Get the right coach in, allow him time to let the dust settle, and then allow him to pick the captain and go from there to rebuild Pakistan cricket and take it forward, because at the moment it’s going nowhere.”