Gary Kirsten, a former South African star batter and current Pakistan cricket team coach, made headlines on Monday. The reason: an alleged comment by the former India coach on the lack of unity in the team, led by Babar Azam. Kirsten, who won the 2011 World Cup as India coach, was appointed as the Pakistan coach a few weeks ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. However, Pakistan's performance was not at all good. The 2022 T20 World Cup runners-up were eliminated from the group stage.
Pakistan began with a loss against debutants USA and then lost to archrivals India too. Though the side win against Canada and Ireland, it was not enough for the side to enter the 'Super 8' stage.
A day after Pakistan's last group stage match against Ireland on Sunday, the remark by Kirsten went viral. Former Pakistan President Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi, who served as the 13th President of the country, got involved in the development. He was commenting on a post by a senior journalist, which had a viral quote by Gary Kirsten.
The journalist Ihtisham Ul Haq quoted Gary Kirsten as saying: "There's no unity in Pakistan's team, They call it a team, but it isn't a team. They aren't supporting each other; everyone is separated, left and right. I've worked with many teams, but I've never seen such a situation".
Arif Alvi reposted the statement and wrote the following:
"For us in Pakistan there is an easy solution to this serious allegation.
"This is an attack on the solidarity & integrity of Pakistan. We have information from credible sources (cipher) that cannot be revealed that he is working under the direct influence of foreign interests against our ideology. The patron of the PCB has ordered immediate action that includes registration of FIRs in all the cricket playing centers of Pakistan and his name is put on the ECL.
"For Gary! Dont worry the above...is just a pun. Do your best to salvage our beleaguered cricket team."
The post has gone viral on social media.