Former Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has openly criticized PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi for his lack of involvement in an important team-building session called the “Connection Camp.” Gillespie claimed that while he flew in from Australia and white-ball coach Gary Kirsten traveled from South Africa to attend the camp, Naqvi—despite residing in Lahore—chose to attend via Zoom.
“Couldn’t Even Drive 20 Minutes”: Gillespie Questions Chairman’s Commitment
During a podcast appearance, Gillespie expressed his disappointment over Naqvi’s absence, highlighting the effort made by both him and Kirsten to attend the camp physically.
“𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
“𝑰 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂, 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒉𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒂𝒒𝒗𝒊 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒁𝒐𝒐𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑳𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 20 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅.”
The Connection Camp, held on September 23, 2024, was a key initiative by the PCB aimed at improving communication, unity, and performance among national players. Participants included top cricketers like Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, and others.
Despite praise from PCB’s COO calling it a timely initiative, Gillespie’s remarks have reignited scrutiny around the board’s leadership and commitment to team development. Gillespie later resigned as Pakistan’s Test coach in late 2024.
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