Published: Apr 04, 2011, 01:08 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 19, 2014, 02:56 PM (IST)
By Jamie Alter
“I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody – somewhere – was practicing more than me.” – NBA and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird’s words ring loud as the Gary Kirsten chapter shuts on Indian cricket.
Kirsten, a talented and hardworking batsman for South Africa, whose gritty determination and hunger for runs were an inspiration, adopted his own work ethic as a player to his role as India’s coach. The lasting image of his tenure was of a man who was the first to arrive at training and the last to leave. He was fiercely competitive and a disciple of dedication, and this came out in the way he conducted training sessions. We don’t know if he wondered if there were other practicing more than his players, but we do know he ensured they practiced enough.
Kirsten’s hands-on role, especially working on fielding drills and throw-downs with seniors, was to form the crux of India’s pre-match regimen because, the South African believed, preparation guaranteed success. He could not control what happened on the field, but he strived to get the best out of the players in practice.
None less than Sachin Tendulkar has credited Kirsten’s throw-downs as instrumental in helping him psyche himself up for matches. Yuvraj Singh has credited Kirsten for helping him out of a slump. VVS Laxman has spoken admirably of Kirsten’s focus in the nets, and emphasis on batting a certain number of deliveries each match, and how annoyed he would get if such plans didn’t work out in a match. Rahul Dravid has lauded the sense of balance Kirsten brought to the team and his unerring dedication to his craft.
Kirsten bows out of the role of India’s coach, having just overseen an emphatic World Cup campaign that resulted in India winning the trophy after a 28-year drought. It has been a memorable journey, and one unimaginable without Kirsten’s guidance.
India, after the bitter experience that was Greg Chappell, needed a coach who was unobtrusive. Whom the players wouldn’t be overawed by. Who wouldn’t come with a tag of cricketing legend behind him. Who would be able to win the players’ respect by working unobtrusively behind the scenes. Kirsten filled each of those roles. He was, to put it simply, the calm after the storm.
When Kirsten signed a two-year deal to coach India on December 4, 2007, the appointment had raised the issue of coaching in the modern game. Opinion was divided on the utility of the position. Now, after he has taken them forward from the disruptions of the Chappell era to world champions in the Test and ODI arena, the argument remains skewed towards the necessity of a man-manager.
When the BCCI appointed Kirsten as India’s coach, he seemed a low-key option as the man who could end 28 years of frustration. Men with larger coaching credentials, such as Graham Ford, Tim Boon, Martin Crowe and Terry Oliver, had applied for the position. Kirsten’s only experience was as Cricket South Africa’s high performance manager, and setting up the privately-run Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy.
Kirsten’s greatest challenges when he landed in India lay off the field. He had to work with three former captains in the side, a selection committee which had driven John Wright to the point of frustration, and the world’s largest and most intimidating cricket media. He had, in fact, been warned by a former selector that in India there were two things you didn’t do – argue with your wife or the media.
Slowly, steadily, Kirsten won over each. With the players, he began his tenure with workshops spread over two days at a hotel in Chennai. The goal was to identify means to attain success and overcome failure were good planning, better understanding, responsibility, determination and enjoying success. Many raised their eyebrows at the time. Now they stand to applaud.
The reason Kirsten fit in so smoothly was because, from day one, he took the team into confidence and encouraged them. He spoke a common language. He controlled the egos. He was always available. He wasn’t intimidating. He was one of the guys. The players took to him and he was quickly embraced in the dressing room. Dravid now terms him a friend, Laxman an inspiration.
Crucially, Kirsten built a core team around him. One of the first things he did after becoming coach was to get Paddy Upton, the South African mental-conditioning coach, to join the Indian team support staff. The move proved decisive for India’s players. To watch Kirsten, Upton and the rest of the back-room staff with their arms around each other’s shoulders on Saturday night, each laughing, some crying, and jog behind the winning Indian team was stirring. They were as much a part of the dream as the players on the field.
And for whatever reason – they were free of the Chappell pall, the team had found a crop of youngsters, or perhaps it was totally coincidental – the Indian team took off almost immediately.
From the time Kirsten and Upton teamed up, India won 16 off 33 Test matches, 62 of 95 completed ODIs, and nine of 19 Twenty20s. In the process, they beat Australia in a Test series and drew with South Africa in South Africa. Overall, under Kirsten, India lost just one Test series en route to becoming the No 1 Test team in the world. Along the way, they won limited-overs fixtures such as the CB Series, the Asia Cup, the Compaq cup, and bilateral series over Australia, England, New Zealand (twice), West Indies and Sri Lanka (thrice). Now they are ODI champions.
Tough, fair, team-oriented, supportive, non-vindictive and, now, dazzlingly successful – that’s Kirsten, in a nutshell. He leaves behind a legacy whose future rest in the ability of India’s administrators to pick a replacement whose work ethics and knowledge is similar to Kirsten so that the team seamlessly adjusts to the new man and maintains its top position. It is testament to Kirsten’s work ethic and resulting success that he has left Indian cricket in such shape after the Chappell fiasco. The onus is on India to ensure the players keep practicing like they did under Kirsten, aware that others out there may be doing so more than them.
(Jamie Alter is a freelance cricket writer, having worked at ESPNcricinfo and All Sports Magazine. His first book, The History of World Cup Cricket, is out now. His twitter feed is @jamie_alter)
