Jason Gillespie takes up Pakistan team's Head Coach role after beef with Mohsin Naqvi

Jason Gillespie to join Hyderabad [Source: X]

In a recent development, former Australia cricketer Jason Gillespie is set to take charge as the head coach of the Pakistan Super League’s newly emerged franchise, Hyderabad, for the upcoming 11th edition.

Jason Gillespie previously had an association with Pakistan as a red-ball coach, which did not end on a sweet note following the acrimonious end of his tenure in late 2024 due to poor communication and a financial dispute amid management decisions.

Nevertheless, Jason has once again put his faith in the country’s most premium league by taking up the head coach role with Hyderabad.

Jason Gillespie to train new core of Hyderabad

The 50-year-old will be part of the historic 11th edition of the PSL, where the tournament has now expanded to eight teams, with Hyderabad and Sialkot joining as the latest franchises.

For the unaware, Hyderabad, owned by Fawad Sarwar, secured the franchise after placing the winning bid of Rs 1.75 billion. While the league is set to get underway soon, the auction is scheduled to be held on February 11, as the old draft system has now been revamped and replaced by a new auction model.

Hyderabad will look to form their core as a new team in the auction and will get a fair chance to secure top-end players.

With Jason Gillespie at the helm, the franchise can aim for a successful campaign, as Gillespie comes with a strong coaching pedigree, having guided Yorkshire to back-to-back County Championship titles in 2014 and 2015.

The mega successful coaching career of Gillespie

Gillespie began his coaching career in Zimbabwe between 2010 and 2012 with the Mid West Rhinos. In 2011, he served as the bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.

His most successful stint, however, came with Yorkshire from 2011 to 2016, where he led the team to two titles. Gillespie also expanded his coaching footprint in the Big Bash League, where he has been the head coach of the Adelaide Strikers for over a decade.

During his BBL stint, he was also appointed interim head coach of the Papua New Guinea national team in 2017. However, his most recent national assignment with Pakistan ended on a sour note.

The sour Pakistan stint

Jason Gillespie was appointed Test head coach of Pakistan in April 2024 on a two-year contract and also served as the interim white-ball coach.

Citing the challenges, Gillespie was utterly bamboozled by the ‘zero communication’ PCB had with him in terms of decision-making.

"There were certainly challenges. I went into the job eyes wide open, I want to make that really clear. I knew that, you know, Pakistan had cycled through a number of coaches in a pretty short space of time.

The straw that broke the camel's back, I suppose, was, as a head coach, you like to have clear communication with your employer. I was completely and utterly blindsided by a decision to not have a high-performance coach," Gillespie told ABC Sport.

He resigned in December 2024 after a 2–1 Test series win against England at home. Despite success being close at hand, he stepped away due to a lack of communication and feeling blindsided by the PCB’s administrative decisions.