Gary Kirsten etched his name in history when he helped the MS Dhoni-led Indian team lift the ICC World Cup in 2011. But his journey with the Men in Blue was not free from obstacles. In an interview with the Final Word podcast, the former South Africa cricketer opened up on the challenges he faced when he joined the Indian side as coach in 2008.
According to Kirsten, while the team had won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 under MS Dhoni and were high on confidence, issues still remained. One of them was Sachin Tendulkar’s unhappiness with the game. Kirsten admitted that when he joined the Indian squad, the Master Blaster, as Tendulkar was fondly called, was “deeply unhappy” because he felt he had a lot to offer but he wasn’t enjoying the sport”.
“He (Sachin) was at a time in his career when he felt maybe he should retire. It was important for me to connect with him and make him feel that he had a massive contribution to make to the team and his contribution was more than what he needed to do,” Kirsten said.
“When I took over, there was a lot of scarring in the team, a lot of unhappiness. Hence, for me it was more important to understand each individual and where they felt they fit in the team and what was going to make them play cricket for the sheer joy,” he added.
The former India coach also heaped praise on MS Dhoni, with whom he had worked closely during his tenure. “Dhoni was a standout in the sense that he was so focused on the team doing well. He wanted to win trophies and achieve success for the team, and he was very public about that. This pulled a lot of other guys into line; they didn’t just focus on themselves. Sachin started enjoying cricket as well. He just played for the love of it; he felt that he could make a contribution to the greater cause,” Kirsten said in the video.
“MS and I formed the most unlikely partnership of captain and coach you will ever imagine in international games, and we ended up having this incredible journey together,” he noted.
He also opened up on his bonding with the Indian team and stated that the biggest thing for him was to be welcomed into the country’s cricket community and be accepted in their space. Calling India his “second home”, the former South Africa cricketer revealed he still gets offers to host leadership talks.
During Kirsten’s tenure as head coach, India achieved the number 1 ranking in ODIs and Tests as well as lift the World Cup trophy after a long wait of 28 years.
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