Jason Gillespie, the coach of Pakistan's Test team, has resigned from his position. He handed in his resignation to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday, 12 December, just hours ahead of when the team was scheduled to leave for South Africa for a two-Test series. The PCB confirmed this development. "He has resigned," the spokesperson said, without further details. Gillespie's departure was expected as the PCB decided not to renew the contract of his assistant coach, Tim Nielsen. Both Gillespie and Nielsen reportedly had a good working relationship, and this decision upset Gillespie. The PCB has confirmed Aaqib Javed would be taking over as the red-ball team's interim coach after Thursday night. Aaqib is already working as the interim head coach of the white-ball team following Gary Kirsten's resignation. He is at present with the Pakistan limited-overs squad in South Africa, where he is expected to be involved for three T20Is and three ODIs. In a statement, the PCB said: "The PCB has named Aaqib Javed as interim red-ball head coach following the resignation of red-ball head-coach Jason Gillespie." Also Read | Cricketers Hail Gukesh Dommaraju’s Chess World Championship Glory Aaqib’s first task as Test coach will be Pakistan's two-match series against South Africa. The first Test will be played from December 26 to 30 at SuperSport Park in Centurion, and the second Test will take place at Newlands in Cape Town from January 3 to 7. This is at a testing time for Pakistan cricket as the PCB is also embroiled in a controversy with the ICC and BCCI over the Champions Trophy. Gillespie, who joined the PCB on a two-year contract earlier this year, was not happy with a few recent decisions. The final straw seemed to be the PCB's handling of Nielsen's contract. Gillespie's first series as coach was a 0-2 home Test defeat to Bangladesh, and then he won it 2-1 against England. He also worked with the white-ball team in Australia last month, where Pakistan won the ODI series 2-1 but lost the T20I series 0-3. Two foreign coaches leaving within six months might make things a bit difficult for PCB in terms of finding another international coach.