Former India head coach Gary Kirsten was all praise for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led the Indian team during his tenure. He expressed that MS Dhoni was a standout leader, whose focus was on his team doing well. Under their leadership, India won its second ODI World Cup title in 2011.
Gary Kirsten was appointed as the Indian head coach in December 2007. He helped India reach the No. 1 position in the ICC ODI and Test rankings. His partnership with MS Dhoni is regarded as one of the greatest coach-captain alliances in international cricket. It helped Indian cricket to get to several milestones. Speaking to Adam Collins in ‘The Final Word cricket podcast’ show on YouTube, Kirsten recalled the ‘superstar culture’ in India. He said,
“Any coach would want a group of players playing for the name on the front of the shirt 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.”
Gary Kirsten further added that MS Dhoni managed to get the team together and focus on winning trophies. He said,
“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.”
MS and I formed the most unlikely partnership: Gary Kirsten
Former India head coach Gary Kirsten further spoke about his alliance with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He expressed that they together formed an “unlikely partnership”, which resulted in many incredible moments for Team India. Gary Kirsten said to Adam Collins in ‘The Final Word cricket podcast’ show,
“MS and I formed the most unlikely partnership of captain and coach you will ever imagine in international games. We ended up having this incredible journey together.”
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