ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently rejected claims by former head coach Jason Gillespie that he had not been paid his dues, clarifying that the ex-Australian cricketer breached the terms of his contract and left his position “abruptly.” 

Former fast bowler Gillespie took up the coaching assignment in April 2024 but stepped down in December due to disagreements with the PCB. Since resigning from the role, Gillespie has been an outspoken critic of the PCB, criticizing the board for what he described was its short-sightedness and accusing current interim white-ball coach Aqib Javed of interfering in his job. 

When asked during a recent interview with a local sports platform about his relationship with the PCB, Gillespie wished the board well but said he was still waiting for it to pay him his dues for the coaching job. 

“The Pakistan Cricket Board refutes claims made by a former head coach on the non-payment of his dues,” the PCB said in a statement on Sunday. “The PCB spokesman states that the former head coach abruptly left his position without giving a four month notice period, which was a clear breach of the contractual terms.”

The board said Gillespie’s coaching contract “explicitly mentioned” a notice period applicable to both parties, adding that the former coach was “fully aware of it.”

Earlier this month, Gillespie’s comments during an interview made headlines when he revealed that his time with the PCB had a negative impact on his passion for coaching cricket. 

“The Pakistan experience has soured my love for coaching, I’ll be honest,” Gillespie said. “I’ll get it back, I’m sure I will, but that was really a blow.”

The former fast bowler said he had been disappointed with how his coaching stint with Pakistan ended. 

“It’s had me question whether I want to coach full time again,” he said.

Pakistan cricket analysts and critics have slammed the PCB for appointing a plethora of coaches, selectors and captains over the past few years, blaming the increasing instability within the board as the main reason for the national cricket team’s recent dismal performances. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan kicked off a seven-day anti-polio drive on Monday to vaccinate over 45 million children against the disease, state-run media reported, as Islamabad grapples to contain the infection. 

Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure and multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine — along with completing the routine immunization schedule for children under five — are crucial to building immunity against the virus. Pakistan, which has reported six polio cases so far in 2025, has planned three major vaccination campaigns in the first half of the year, with additional rounds scheduled for April and May. 

The seven-day campaign from Apr. 21-27 is the second nationwide anti-polio drive to be held this year, which aims to vaccinate over 45 million children against the disease. Sharif on Sunday formally kicked off the campaign by administering polio drops to a few children during a ceremony in Islamabad. 

“A week-long anti-polio vaccination campaign begins across the country on Monday,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

“During the drive, field teams of hthe ealth department will go door to door to administer anti-polio vaccine drops to over 45 million children under the age of five years.”

A day earlier, PM Sharif requested parents to get their children vaccinated against polio. 

“It is my request to parents all over Pakistan that they help us out in administering polio drops to their children,” Sharif said. “Help our teams in the field so that this virus can be eliminated for good.”

The Pakistani premier thanked Islamabad’s local and international partners for helping fight the disease, saying he had no doubt Pakistan would stem the spread of the infection. 

Sharif said the government has undertaken stringent security measures in sensitive areas for polio volunteers. He called on authorities to mobilize the public so that they become “soldiers” in the fight against poliovirus. 

In 2024, Pakistan reported an alarming 74 polio cases. Along with Afghanistan, it remains one of the only two countries where polio is still endemic.

Pakistan’s polio program, launched in 1994, has faced persistent challenges including vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim immunization is a foreign conspiracy to sterilize Muslim children or a guise for Western espionage.

Militant groups have also repeatedly targeted and killed polio vaccination workers. Gunmen attacked a vehicle and abducted two polio workers who were on their way home after visiting a health facility in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, earlier this month.