Pakistan's newly appointed white-ball coach Gary Kirsten says he is excited to work with some world-class players in his new assignment.

Both Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten were confirmed as head coaches for red-ball and white-ball formats respectively, whereas Azhar Mahmood was named as an assistant coach across all formats.

Kirsten will take charge of the side immediately after completing his assignment in the Indian Premier League.

The former South Africa batsman, in his two-year contract, will oversee upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, next year’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan, ACC T20 Asia Cup 2025 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.

"It’s a wonderful privilege to be offered the opportunity to coach the Pakistan men’s national team in white-ball cricket, and also to be involved in international cricket again, which I haven’t been for a while," said Kirsten on PCB's podcast.

"That’s a huge honor to be in the international game. So, I’m looking forward to the opportunity and hopefully can add some value to the Pakistan men’s national team in limited-overs cricket.

"I was offered the role to begin with. I think Pakistan sits as one of the top four to five coaching jobs in the world internationally.

"The proposition to work with some of the best cricketers in the world was appealing to me. What is important is that I have the opportunity to work with some of the best cricketers in the world and that excites me."

Kirsten admitted that he had been following the Pakistan Super League and is familiar with a lot of Pakistan players playing across various competitions.

"Not very closely until I was offered the opportunity, to be honest with you. I mean, obviously, I watched a lot of the World Cup last year.

"I’ve watched bits and pieces of short format cricket and then I watched Pakistan Super League, which is really at a great time in South Africa. It’s in the evening, so we can kind of come back from a working day and switch on the TV and there’s PSL.

"So, I’m familiar with all the players pretty much just watching them through the various tournaments.  you’re a cricket lover internationally, you are very familiar with the Pakistan players because they’re all over the place and it’s great watching them play cricket," he added.