'Kirsten, Gillespie given free hand by PCB to turn fortunes of Pak cricket'

In the wake of Pakistan's dismal showing in the T20 World Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday gave head coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie a free hand to turn the fortunes of the team, according to sources.

Pakistan lost to newcomers USA and arch-rivals India in the Group stages of the World Cup to be eliminated from the competition held in the USA and the Caribbean.

Naqvi met the white-ball and red-ball coaches, where Kirsten and Gillespie shared their plans for the national team.

According to the PCB, Naqvi told both the coaches that he had full confidence in them and they would get full backing from the cricket board.

"Kirsten was blunt in laying down his concerns about the white-ball team based on the World Cup," said a PCB source.

Both the head coaches told the PCB chairman that they wanted to set clear guidelines about the fitness levels required to be considered for Pakistan team selection.

"Naqvi told them they should do whatever is ...