Jason Gillespie Critiques Aaqib Javed Amid Pakistan Cricket Turmoil

The knives are out in Pakistan cricket, and this time they’re being sharpened from afar.

With the national team reeling from two heavy defeats in England and a brutal mid-tour cull, former Pakistan Test coach Jason Gillespie has launched a fierce attack on chairman of selectors Aaqib Javed, accusing him of presiding over a directionless, fear-ridden setup.

Seven players and two coaches have already been sent home after Pakistan’s dismal start to the three-Test series, where they lost by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley and then by 194 runs at Lord’s. The fallout has been ugly. It is now turning personal.

“Look in the mirror”

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision earlier this week to axe Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul mid-series, replace them with seven new players and hand control of the Test side to white-ball coach Mike Hesson has stunned many observers.

Gillespie, speaking to Code Sports, did not hold back. His sympathy lay squarely with the players who were told, in effect, that their tour — and in some cases, their roles in the team — were over.

“I feel for the players, this is these guys’ livelihoods. From the outside, it looks like they are playing with fear,” Gillespie said.

He pointed to Salman Ali Agha as the most glaring example of the chaos. Salman captained Pakistan in the first Test against England. By the second, he was out of the side. Before the third, he was on a flight home.

“How does that work?” Gillespie asked, the question hanging over a selection policy that appears to shift by the day.

The Australian identified Javed, who doubles as director of high performance, as the central figure in the mess.

“It's pretty clear they don't have a selection strategy at all, particularly under Aaqib Javed. They change their mind like they change their pants — daily,” he said, urging Javed to “look in the mirror” and stop “playing around with the team”.

Blame game turns bitter

The tension between Gillespie and Javed has been simmering, but the latest crisis has brought it to a boil.

Javed, a former Pakistan fast bowler, has publicly accused Gillespie and former head coach Gary Kirsten of poor communication and of ignoring his input during their time with Pakistan. He has painted them as key culprits in the decline.

Gillespie has repeatedly rejected that version. Now, with Pakistan in disarray, he has pushed back harder.

“Aaqib Javed came out recently and blamed Gary Kirsten and myself for everything that is going on. Aaqib has been the chairman of selectors for the past two years. We haven't even been there. Somehow, he claims it is our fault. Make sense out of that,” Gillespie said.

Then came the punchline.

“I think Javed needs to look at himself in the mirror.”

The criticism did not stop there. Gillespie alleged a complete breakdown in basic professional standards, particularly in how players were informed of their axing.

“There is definitely no communication between Aaqib Javed, who is meant to be chairman of selectors, and the players. The players who were sacked heard it through family and friends and the media that they had been sacked,” he added.

For an international side already struggling on the field, the idea that players learn of their fate via whispers and headlines rather than a direct conversation is damning.

A team in freefall

On the pitch, Pakistan’s tour has been brutal.

An innings and 103-run hammering at Headingley exposed a fragile batting order and a toothless attack. The response at Lord’s did not arrive; instead, a 194-run defeat underlined just how far Pakistan lag behind a confident England side.

The PCB’s answer was drastic: rip up the squad mid-series, send senior players and two coaches home, and hand the Test reins to Mike Hesson, a man already juggling white-ball duties.

Seven new faces have been drafted in for the final Test at Edgbaston, starting September 9. It is less a tweak than a reset, executed in the middle of a marquee away tour.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has already accused the PCB of turning Pakistan into a “laughingstock” with their handling of the situation. Gillespie’s comments now add a stinging internal indictment to the external ridicule.

The third Test at Edgbaston will not just be about salvaging pride on the scoreboard. It will be a live examination of a system that, according to one of its former coaches, has lost its plan, its communication lines, and its nerve.

If this is what the fallout looks like after two defeats, what happens if the slide continues?