Gary Kirsten resigns as Pakistan's limited-overs coach
Karachi, Oct 28: Pakistan's white-ball coach Gary Kirsten on Monday stepped down after developing a rift with the country's cricket board within six months of his appointment.
The 56-year-old South African, who coached India to victory at the 2011 ODI World, was appointed by the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) in April end this year.
"The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced Jason Gillespie will coach the Pakistan men's cricket team on next month's white-ball tour of Australia after Gary Kirsten submitted his resignation, which was accepted," the PCB posted on 'X'.
Red-ball coach Gillispie, however, has made it clear to the PCB that he can only manage things for the white-ball tour of Australia which starts November 4 and is not interested in a permanent role as the limited overs coach, a reliable source aware of the development said.
"Gillispie has informed the board they should look for a replacement for Kirsten for the white ball games in Zimbabwe and onwards," he added.
Though the PCB didn’t give the reason for Kirsten’s sudden resignation, the source confirmed that it was because he was not involved when the board announced the squads for the Australia and Zimbabwe tours and the new captain of the white ball format on Sunday.
The PCB has withdrawn the coaches selection powers. Selection is now exclusively the domain of the selection committee.
"Kirsten was not happy with the abrupt manner in which the board took away his powers in selection and other team matters and made this very clear to Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday before sending in his resignation," another insider said.
He expressed fear that even Gillispie might end up resigning soon as he is also not happy with the current shift in how teams are selected now solely by the selection committee and coaches have no role in this.
Kirsten had been working as a batting coach with the Indian Premier League franchise Gujarat Titans before taking up the role in Paksitan.
The team is riding high on a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over visiting England in a Test series that concluded last week.
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Allahabad HC orders FIR against Rahul Gandhi in dual citizenship case
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered an FIR be filed against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with an alleged dual citizenship controversy.
The bench permitted the state government to hand over the probe to any central probe agency after registration of the FIR.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28 order of a special MP/MLA court rejecting his plea for an FIR against Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The special court had earlier held that it was not competent to adjudicate on issues related to citizenship.
The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe into the matter, levelling allegations against Gandhi under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The complaint was initially filed before the special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. However, on the petitioner's request, the high court transferred the case to Lucknow on December 17, 2025.
The MP/MLA court in Lucknow subsequently dismissed the plea on January 28, 2026, prompting the petitioner to approach the high court, which has now ordered registration of an FIR.
In its order, the bench said that from a bare perusal of the allegations, prima facie cognizable offences were made out against Gandhi and hence the allegations required to be investigated.
The bench said that the special court should have looked into whether the allegations prima facie made out any cognizable offences or not, but it failed to consider it.
Earlier, Deputy Solicitor General of India SB Pandey produced the central government's records in the court relating to the citizenship controversy surrounding Gandhi.
Government counsel VK Singh also consented on behalf of the UP government that the allegations prima facie made out cognizable offences.
After having a detailed hearing, the bench found that the material on records showed that Gandhi had committed "cognizable offences" in having dual citizenship, and these allegations required to be probed.
The petitioner has alleged that Rahul is a UK Citizen and incorporated a company named M/S Backops Ltd in August 2003.
It was further submitted that Gandhi categorically admitted and voluntarily declared his nationality as British, having a Director Identification ID and London and Hampshire addresses.
In his petition, Shishir claimed that Rahul submitted the company's annual returns in October 2005 and October 2006, listing his nationality as British.
Thereafter, the company was dissolved through a dissolution application in February 2009.
According to the petitioner, the material placed before the court includes records suggesting that Rahul Gandhi may have been listed as a voter in the United Kingdom and participated in electoral processes there.
During the course of the hearing, the high court earlier directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to place all relevant records, including classified documents, before the court.
