Former India head coach Gary Kirsten had an excellent run during his stint with the side. He was only the third overseas coach when he landed India in 2008 with a lot of expectations. India were still recovering from the phase Greg Chappell had left in 2007.
There were a lot of speculations on his ability considering Kirsten was very young when he sat on the hot seat. The former South African cricketer had played cricket with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly whom he had to coach.
Sachin Tendulkar was planning to leave: Gary Kirsten
Recently, Gary Kirsten revealed an interesting story on Sachin Tendulkar. Gary revealed the master blaster was planning to leave the game when he first arrived. Speaking on Talk sports’ Following On podcast, Kirsten said Tendulkar was not at all enjoying his game at that point in time.
“If I think of Sachin Tendulkar at that time, where he was when I arrived in India … he wanted to give up the game. According to him, he was batting out of position, he wasn’t enjoying his cricket at all. Three years later, he scores 18 international hundreds in three years, goes back to batting where he wants to bat, and we win the World Cup,” Kirsten said.
Sachin Tendulkar had some injury issues between 2005 and 2007. He played the World Cup in 2007 but failed to score a century. Moreover, going into the World Cup 2007, he was given the role of batting at no.4 in ODIs. It is not unknown that Tendulkar fancied his chances batting in the top-order.
Recalling those days, Gary Kirsten said he had a great time as India head coach and sharing the dressing room with Sachin Tendulkar.
“I ended up having a great coaching journey with him and that, for me, is where the essence of coaching is now, certainly modern coaching. You’re actually facilitating people’s ability to be the best version of themselves.
All I did was facilitate an environment for him to thrive. I didn’t tell him (Sachin Tendulkar) anything. He knew the game, but what he did need was an environment – not only him, all of them – an environment set up where they could be the best version of themselves,” Kirsten added.