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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has backed his former Australian teammate Jason Gillespie to excel as head coach of Pakistan’s Test team. Gillespie was appointed as the new head coach of Pakistan’s Test team in April 2024. His first assignment with the Shan Masood-led side will start next week, when Pakistan will face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series.
Ahead of the start of Gillespie’s first Test as head coach, Ponting has backed him for a successful stint and said that the former pacer is a great thinker.
Speaking on the ICC review, Ponting compared the 49-year-old to current India head coach Gautam Gambhir and said, “Jason Gillespie is a bit like Gambhir. Pretty much everywhere he has been, his coaching record has been very, very good. He will have some challenges. I had no doubt about it. But he is a deep thinker and, as I said, a quiet person who goes about it in his own way,” said Gillespie.
“We have 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. And look, to be honest, I am not surprised at all by the amount of change 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 are expecting similar results to come your way,” he added.
Pakistan suffered shocking defeats in the first two Group A matches of the T20 World Cup 2024 played against the USA and India, and because of that, it failed to qualify for the Super 8s. After a disappointing show in the shortest format megaevent, the Pakistani team would like to make a strong comeback in the Test series and keep alive its chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship final.
After facing Bangladesh, Pakistan, which suffered a whitewash against Australia earlier this year, will face England in a three-match Test series. In the last Test series played between the two teams, England whitewashed Pakistan in 2022.
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