Mike Hesson opens up on his role in Pakistan team selection

KARACHI: Head coach of Pakistan men’s white-ball cricket teams, Mike Hesson on Thursday, confirmed that he, alongside the captain, plays a pivotal role in the selection process.

Hesson addressed the media on the sidelines of the white-ball and pre-Bangladesh series camp here and explained his role in the national team’s selection.

“I am part of the selection panel. Yes, I am. The selectors of the selection panel select a squad of 20 players and then the coach and captain present 15 to the chairman,” Hesson said.

Mike Hesson’s involvement in the national team’s selection panel indicates a shift in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s strategy as the previous full-time white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten had been excluded from the process, which led to him relinquishing the role.

"It was a tumultuous few months. I realised quite quickly I wasn’t going to have much of an influence. Once I was taken off selection and asked to take a team and not be able to shape the team, it became very difficult as a coach then to have any sort of positive influence on the group," Kirsten had said during an interview.

Kirsten took over as Pakistan’s white-ball coach in April 2024, alongside Jason Gillespie, who was appointed the Test coach.

However, both saw their tenures cut short. Kirsten stepped down six months into the role, shortly after the PCB announced squads for the ODI and T20I tours of Australia and Zimbabwe—without involving him or Gillespie in the selection process.

Gillespie, too, resigned ahead of the South Africa Test series in December, reportedly disillusioned after the board parted ways with high-performance coach Tim Nielsen. He later admitted the experience left a “sour taste” in his coaching career.