Published: Feb 14, 2023, 09:40 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 14, 2023, 09:40 AM (IST)
New Delhi: From the lows of the 50-over World Cup after a first-round exit to the highs of winning the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, 2007 was a bitter-sweet year for the Men in Blue. MS Dhoni was named the captain of the side ahead of the T20 World Cup in 2007 while Gary Kirsten was also roped in as the head coach in an attempt to take Indian cricket in the right direction. The Kirsten-Dhoni combo led Indian cricket to great heights, leading them to the 50-Over World Cup win in 2011, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and the top of the Test rankings.
Gary Kirsten will go down as one of the best coaches in Indian history given his contribution to Indian cricket. The South African cricketer recently made sensational claims and revealed that there was a sense of unhappiness in the dressing room when he joined the Indian team. Kirsten revealed that veteran India batter Sachin Tendulkar was mulling retirement after the 2007 World Cup exit.
“The standout for me then was what kind of leadership was then required to take this very talented team and turn it into a world-beating team. That was the conundrum for any coach moving into that situation. When I took over there was definitely a lot of scaring in the team. There was a lot of unhappiness and 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,” Kirsten said.
“Sachin was probably a stand out for me because he was deeply unhappy at the time that I joined the team. He felt he had a lot to offer, but he wasn’t enjoying his cricket and he was at a time in his career when he felt may be 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,” said Kirsten while speaking to Adam Collins in ‘The Final Word cricket podcast’ show in YouTube.
Kirsten was also massively impressed by MS Dhoni saying that the former India captain was focused on the team doing well rather than his personal records.
“Any coach would want a group of players playing for the name on the front of the shorts and not the name on the back of the shirt. India is a tough place with a lot of hype around individual superstars and you often get lost in what your own personal needs are. And Dhoni meanwhile was standout as a leader as he was so focused on the team doing well he wanted to win trophies and have great success and he was very public about that. And that pulled a lot of other guys into line and quite simply Sachin started enjoying cricket as well,” he explained.
