Gary Kirsten was announced as the new head coach for the Sri Lankan cricket team, reasserting himself at the top of the pecking order in world cricket in terms of the international experience he brings to the table. Across a long career playing for South Africa and coaching on the international stage, Kirsten has seen all there is to see in modern-day cricket.
In charge of the Indian team as they won the 2011 ODI World Cup, Kirsten oversaw a team that included legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, plus nascent superstars of the generation to come in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Another player he coached was current Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir, who himself was at the helm as India lifted the T20 World Cup on home turf this month.
For Gambhir, the trophy comes at the end of a process to have India playing their short-form cricket a certain way, one which had adapted and grown as the T20 format enters its third decade. The shorthand for this change has been a shedding of the superstar culture in Indian cricket – and this is something Kirsten has noticed.
Speaking to Wisden, the South African commended the recognition from the powers-that-be in Indian cricket that their strength lay in their incredible depth, the ability to find quality and consistency across the board.
“I think it’s changed in India in the last 15-odd years, and he’s absolutely spot-on,” said Kirsten, referring to Gambhir’s quest to initiate a more holistic culture within the Indian team.
‘You could pick three teams’
“India was driven largely around that superstardom status of each individual,” commented Kirsten – a statement that is not necessarily a negative and might well have been what the Indian cricket team of that era required. However, things are different now.
“There are so many good Indian players around now, you could literally pick three teams. There’s just so much depth in the system in India now, so it makes complete sense that the whole game resting on on one-two-three-four individuals is not necessary,” said the South African coach.
This much certainly is true – while their are commonalities in some of the personnel across three formats for the Indian team, they feel far more distinct and unique than any other time in the past. This is perhaps best represented in how there are three different captains, and the batting groups seem to be entirely unique.
Diagnosing what was considered to be a weakness of the Indian team’s culture has allowed it to develop a new superpower – translating that to big wins and regular trophies will be the next step.
