Gary Kirsten

It is not only the Sri Lankan spin legend who is going to retire today; it is also going to be Gary Kirsten’s last game as coach for Team India. He has been meticulously monitoring the performance of the team from behind the screen and noting down things in his own notebook. And that probably is the reason why he has been liked by every Indian in the dressing room, for he has always allowed the players to take the centre stage.

Kirsten now only has one more match left to complete his tenure as India coach. He said that he had a great experience coaching the team for the past three years. Though there were a lot of emotions associated with the game tomorrow, Gary was well in control of those and he was wary about playing the Sri Lankans in the finals.

Kirsten was happy about the team’s batting performances in the recent times and said that the batting order is one of the best he has ever seen in world Cricket. However, he admitted that the team was lucky due to the dropped chances. The batting maestro saw six drop catches on the course of his eighty five in the last game against Pakistan. He was also happy for having found a good finisher in Suresh Raina and lavished praise for the young man’s role in the last two games, quoting those as crucial ones.

The former South African opener also backed Dhoni’s decision to play Ashish nehra in the last game and said that lanky left-armer fought really hard after being criticized for his poor last over against South Africa. He lauded Munaf Patel’s control and said that his spells in the last game were crucial ones. Since the ball was stopping a bit, they had relied on his off-cutters he added. He also hoped that he could end his career on a high.

Tags: Coach, Cricket, Gary Kirsten, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Team India, World Cup