Gary Kirsten Reveals Bizarre Events That Preceded His Selection As Team India's Coach

"I thought it was a hoax. I never even answer it. He sent me another email, and said, 'Will you come for an interview?'. I showed it to the wife, and she said, 'They must have the wrong person', Kristen revealed

Gary Kristen

Former South African Test cricketer Gary Kirsten is widely regarded as one of India's most successful coaches in the new millennium. Kristen formed an excellent rapport with former skipper MS Dhoni and the duo played a pivotal part in helping India attain the Number One Test rankings in 2009 and then spearheading the 'Men In Blue' to lift the ICC World Cup Trophy two years later in 2011. Kristen who was one of the main think tanks of a highly successful team under MS Dhoni is said to have worked out a very good relationship with the Indian cricketers and enjoyed rapport with the experienced players in the dressing room. Speaking on the 'Cricket Collective' podcast, Kirsten revealed a "bizarre" series of events that preceded his selection as the coach of the Indian team. The former South African cricketer revealed that it took him only seven minutes to fetch the job - and it began with an e-mail from Sunil Gavaskar. I got an email from Sunil Gavaskar - would I consider coaching the Indian team," Kirsten recalled. "I thought it was a hoax. I never even answer it. He sent me another email, and said, 'Will you come for an interview?'. I showed it to the wife, and she said, 'They must have the wrong person'. "So it was a bizarre entry into the whole thing, and rightly so. I mean, I had no coaching experience or anything," he said. Kirsten also said that when he reached India for the interview, he came across Anil Kumble, who was the captain of India's Test team at the time. Talking about the interview, Kirsten said he had gone unprepared and it was current India coach Ravi Shastri, who was in the selection panel at that time, to "break the ice". "I am in this board meeting with these BCCI officials, and it was quite an intimidating environment; the secretary of the board said, 'Mr. Kirsten, would you like to present your vision for the future of Indian Cricket?', and I said, 'Well, I don't have one.' No one had asked me to prepare anything for it. I had just arrived there," Kirsten said. "Ravi Shastri, who was on the committee, said to me, 'Gary, tell us, what did you guys as the South African team do to beat the Indians?'. I thought it was a great ice-breaker, because I could answer it and I answered it in about two-three minutes without saying strategies that we kind of probably use to this day. "He was suitably impressed, as was the rest of the board, because three minutes later – I had been in in the interview about seven minutes – the secretary of the board slides across a contract to me," he added. "I went for the interview, it was a bizarre experience in many ways because I kind of arrived at the interview and I see Anil Kumble, who's the current Indian captain, and he says, 'What are you doing here?'. I said, 'I have come for an interview to coach you!'. "So we kinda laugh about it. It was quite a laughing matter."