Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has spoken about the team’s game plan for the upcoming Test season, which will see them play 9 Tests in the next four months.
Gillespie felt it was important to manage the players’ workload given the amount of cricket that will be played in the coming months.
The packed schedule will begin with the two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home, starting on August 21 in Rawalpindi. Pakistan will then play a three-match Test series against England, also at home.
Both series are important as Shan Masood and his team look to climb the World Test Championship (WTC) table.
Also Read: Shan Masood openly exposes PCB, defames Cricket Board
Jason Gillespie reveals his game plan for the upcoming Test season for Pakistan
During a PCB podcast, Gillespie spoke about Pakistan’s busy international schedule and the need to manage the workload of players.
“There will be nine Test matches in the next four months. That’s just Test cricket, there’s domestic cricket, white-ball cricket in the 50-overs format and T20, not just in Pakistan but all over the world,” Gillespie said.
“We have players who play in multiple formats and we need to look after them as best we can. The priority is to represent Pakistan,” he added.
The team wants to make Pakistan fans proud – Jason Gillespie
Jason Gillespie also said Pakistan will try to play a brand of cricket that will make their fans proud. He also spoke of the unity of the players and the optimism that prevails in the group.
“I think what we’re going to see is a united group of players who will come out together. They’ll all have a big smile on their faces. They’ll go out and play positive cricket,” Gillespie said.
“We don’t want to give away too many trade secrets, but I think we will see a team that wants to go out and make Pakistan fans very proud of the way they play cricket. That’s a very important thing for the players,” he added.
The upcoming series against Bangladesh will be Jason Gillespie’s first assignment as Pakistan’s head red-ball cricket coach. It is to be noted that Pakistan has different coaches for white-ball cricket and red-ball cricket. In ODIs and T20Is, Gary Kirsten is the head coach of the team.
Jason Gillespie’s experience as a coach
Jason Gillespie is an experienced coach and has plenty of coaching experience in a number of cricket-playing countries including England, India and Australia. However, this will be his first assignment as head coach of an international team.
Pakistan have not been at their best in the last few Test matches. Even at home, the Men in Green have been showing their best qualities of late.
Pakistan has played England, Australia and New Zealand at home in the last two years but has failed to win a series. It even suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat by England.
After the series against Bangladesh and England, Pakistan will play a multi-format series in South Africa in December.
The tour includes a two-match Test series that will test a young team desperate to pick up some wins in the longest format of the game.