An outburst in the dressing room by coach Gary Kirsten has set the cat amongst the pigeons in Pakistan cricket.
Social media was abuzz with quotes attributed to Kirsten showing the Pakistan team in poor light.
“There’s no unity in Pakistan’s team. They call it a team, but it isn’t a team. They aren’t supporting each other; everyone is separated, left and right. I’ve worked with many teams, but I’ve never seen such a situation,” was a quote that had spread across social media like wildfire with Kirsten seemingly saying this to a journalist.
However inquiries have revealed that the said outburst had happened in the dressing room rather than being a public criticism of their performance in the Twenty20 World Cup. Kirsten’s comments were part of a debriefing session, as reported by Geo TV, after the Babar Azar side beat Ireland at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday and was subsequently misconstrued on social media.
Apart from many other things, Kirsten is understood to have used some strong words stating that they didn’t play as one unit.
After this a few players are believed to have leaked this dressing room talk to the media. “They presented this comment as per their liking/disliking for players/officials etc. Gary definitely didn’t say what has or is being reported,” said a source in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Kirsten also told a few in the PCB that he did not make any public criticism of the team’s performance.
Cricbuzz tried to contact Kirsten, a former India coach who was among the coaching staff of the Gujarat Titans, till recently. He, however, told the PCB that he is not on social media and he does not make public comments unless in the press conferences.
The Pakistan team made a premature exit from the World Cup after an unexpected defeat to minnows USA followed by a narrow six-run loss to India. Pakistan’s hopes of qualifying for the Super 8s depended on Ireland beating USA but the match got washed out resulting in them getting knocked out in the first round.
The team had to cop a lot of criticism with many former cricketers, pundits and legends unhappy with the side’s performance in the World Cup. Wasim Akram even hinted at a lack of unity in the side.