Kirsten delivered for India and Gujarat Titans in the IPL. As Pakistan’s white-ball coach, another interesting challenge awaits him.
Yuvraj Singh, man-of-the-tournament in the 2011 World Cup calls him the best coach he’s ever play under while other members of that victorious campaign like Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh also talk highly about his man management skills.
Ex-South African opener Gary Kirsten is quite a figure among cricket lovers in India as Guru Gary who silently ran background operations between 2008 to 2011 after Greg Chappell had already left them with what was a difficult period over two years.
Kirsten will now be joining Pakistan as their white-ball coach after doing a successful job with both mentoring and batting coaching at Gujarat Titans during IPL.
India plays Pakistan on June 9 in the T20 World Cup at Nassau County Ground New York and Kirsten. Who will be in the green dug-out might be holding out some secrets about Indian players that can be exploited by Pakistan.
Or would he? However, Paddy Upton, a mental conditioning coach who was part of Kirsten’s back room staff with the Indian team doesn’t think so. “Nowadays all players’ video analysis and data are detail and well-known to all opponents. Most of the world players have gone through playing various leagues across the globe and therefore have deep and personal insights about other teams’ players. With such enormous depth of knowledge already recorded. I do not believe that there is much insider advantage ahead for this particular encounter between India vs Pak,”Upton told TOI.
Kirsten also had an interaction with video analyst Prasanna Agoram when he worked with South Africa between 2011-2013 as well as Delhi Daredevills during 2014-15; man management was highly regard (by him) for Kirsten.
“Most people are process-driven coaches rather than match-up or confusing-data laden. So long as it is not a player’s performance going down drastically. Just keep focusing on driven things where he keeps ticking all boxes. Only if a player fails two or three months while making same mistake does he see my footage and data before I step in. Nevertheless, he builds up strong relationships with players,” Agoram told TOI.
Moreover, Kirstein can stay away from useless practice. In addition to this, we get remind of what happened during Adelaide Test of 2012 against Australia by Agoram.
“He used to select XI that day itself and change the 12th man every day. Either either go out or come to ground or just relax at hotel.”
Accordingly, Virender Sehwag: The dashing former Indian opener had a chat with the media in which he pointed out that Kirsten was aware of how much practice each individual player needed to do.
“Whoever is the coach should know how much each person needs to practice. Best part about it was that Kirsten knew. He used to give me 50 balls in a net session. Rahul Dravid would face 200. Sachin Tendulkar faced 300. Gautam Gambhir faced 400. After that we went back,” Sehwag said.
On the other hand, Kirsten could also be rude at times though. During the 2009 T20 World Cup, he told Yuvraj that at 41. He was fitter than him, a hard hitting leftie. This awakened something in the talented cricketer who from then on began making better off-field choices culminating into being man of the series for 2011 World Cup.
“Gary prefers to talk about things diplomatically rather than use a direct approach. His nature is calming, but he is also able to handle tough conversations. Even those ones are always settled through his uniquely composed way. Trust and relationship have to be built when dealing with senior players, who are challenging.” Therefore, what will be the benefit of having Kirsten as their coach?
“He has worked in another culture; consequently, he understands it well. There will be a lot of listening and seeking understanding on his part. He will also understand the emotions of fans as well as that of media people. This situation would require someone who has developed a thick skin due to many years of operating within such an atmosphere,” Upton said.
Agoram talks about Ariel’s man-management skills and how much time she spends on building relationships between her and her players.
“If Gary wants Fakhar Zaman, who only opens to play at number 4 all his life. It comes down to trust so simply. When a player trusts his coach enough he says “Fine I am game”. Often they say we are not comfortable whenever asked by their coaches to change roles. But I bet you Gary’s God fatherly love he gives players will save him in this situation. Coach is very rational and unaffected by wins or losses at least once in my lifetime I have never seen him angry. Pakistan has made the best choice,” Agoram underlines.
Over now Babar’s boys should prove this right!
