New Delhi: Pakistan might have ended their two-decade wait for an ODI series win in Australia, yet their coach Jason Gillespie isnt happy at the way the series was downplayed in his native country.
Pakistan won the three match series 2-1 for their first ODI series Down Under since 2002, claiming the decider by eight wickets in Perth.
Gillespie said it was not amusing to see the ODI series not promoted at all in Australia, who are set to engage in a five Test series with India from November 22.
“To be honest I pretty much saw no promotion of our one-day series by Cricket Australia, which was a bit of a surprise,” the former Australia pacer told Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s pretty obvious that they’re prioritising the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against India, because I saw no promotion of this series.
“Fox do a great job promoting, but it was pretty clear to us where CA’s priorities lie. That’s their prerogative and their decision, but I just didn’t see any advertising, and promotion of this one-day series at all,” he added.
“The fact it was behind the paywall as well probably limited the amount of advertising and interest in the series. The timing of it … it’s really difficult for administrators to schedule all the cricket in.
“But it has felt from Pakistan’s perspective that based on selections and promotion of the series that their priorities have been India. Everyone can see that, it’s pretty obvious.”
Gillespie also said that he knew Pakistan had a good chance of winning the series deciding match in Perth after Australia rested skipper Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne with an eye on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“We knew that there was probably going to be some change, knowing what Australia have coming up. You always thought at the back of your mind were they going to send the big quicks over to Perth to play one 50-over game,” he said.
“We anticipated that, and that’s the nature of modern cricket and it’s up to selectors and coaches to manage their players as best they can. Australia chose to do that. It was pretty obvious that this three-match one-day series wasn’t the highest of priorities for Australia.
“All we can do as Pakistan is play against the opposition that’s presented and we did that really well. It was pleasing not just to beat Australia but beat them pretty convincingly. The reality is we should have won the first game as well.”
Pakistan won the three match series 2-1 for their first ODI series Down Under since 2002, claiming the decider by eight wickets in Perth. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
