Spare a thought for Gary Kirsten

Spare a thought for Gary Kirsten

The Indian cricket team is being lavishly praised, and rightly so!

But in the midst of all this, let's spare a thought for one man who has played a major role in us winning the World Cup - Gary Kirsten!

Gary came in after hurricane Chappel had left a trail of destruction in his wake. Many players had gone off-track in their careers - the most notable being Irfan. Others were low on confidence as "great" guru Chappel had messed up their minds.

Gary brought about a sense of calm to the team. He was the perfect coach for Indian conditions. He adjusted to our way of thinking, and went about his job systematically & sincerely.

He was always in the background, working hard at building team morale. He got in mental conditioning coaches to inspire the team at just the right moment.

At the same time he was very good at giving technical advice to those who were floundering; Gautam Gambhir being one of the most prominent ones to benefit.

Gary never said "I am the coach and whatever I say goes!". He always said "This is Dhoni's team". I don't think you would find a single Indian player who has bad things to say about him. And in our country, that counts for a lot :-).

Thank you, Gary. Hope you come back and take up this task again ...