Sachin Tendulkar asked me to be his friend more than coach during my tenure: Gary Kirsten

Former South African captain Gary Kirsten began his four-year coaching term for Team India in 2008. While speaking on TalkSports’ Following On Podcast, 101-Test veteran recently recalled his association with Indian cricket and kind of environment he created for Indian team. Gary Kirsten also talked about his friendship with former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar and how ‘Master Blaster’ struck a purple patch during his coaching stint.

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Gary Kirsten reveals how he helped Sachin Tendulkar

Gary Kirsten said that Sachin Tendulkar was contemplating retirement during time when he first arrived to India for job in late 2007. According to South African, batting icon was t enjoying his cricket because of being asked to bat lower down order thanks to Greg Chappell and his coaching staff. Gary Kirsten furr added that during his tenure, he sent Sachin Tendulkar to bat where he wanted and he ended up prolonging his career by scoring 18 centuries in three years.

Kirsten also admitted that when he first arrived, Sachin Tendulkar asked him to be his friend more than a coach. former Indian coach said that he ended up having a great coaching journey with Tendulkar along with rest of team, which culminated in ‘Men in Blue’ lifting 2011 World Cup at home. former left-handed opening batsman also stated that while he did t tell anything to Sachin Tendulkar, he simply facilitated an environment for entire team. According to Gary Kirsten, essence of modern coaching is to facilitate “people’s ability to be best version of mselves”.

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Gary Kirsten’s successful alliance with captain MS Dhoni

Gary Kirsten’s coaching tenure is widely considered to be one of most successful phases for Indian cricket. Under his leadership, MS Dhoni was appointed as Test captain after wicketkeeper-batsman took over role from retiring Anil Kumble in 2008. Apart from lifting 2011 World Cup, captain-coach partnership between MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten also enjoyed a stay at helm of ICC Test team rankings between 2009 and 2011.

Gary Kirsten credits Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar for coaching job

In ar recent podcast for Cricket Collective, Gary Kirsten credited former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri for helping him get high-profile Indian coaching job.

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Im credits: Sachin Tendulkar Twitter