Gary Kirsten

Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer.

He has coached the Indian Cricket Team as well as the South African Cricket team.

His half brother Peter also played provincial cricket for Western Province, and then later for the South Africa cricket team which included the highlight of the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Kirsten played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batsman.

Kirsten made his Test debut against Australia in Melbourne in 1993.

He still holds the record for highest innings by a South African in a One Day International; 188 not-out made against the United Arab Emirates during the 1996 World Cup, which is the tenth highest innings of all time in One Day International cricket, and the third-highest score in World Cup cricket history.

Kirsten was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the only ICC trophy the country has won till date.

The high score was later surpassed by Graeme Smith when he made 277 against England in 2003.

He retired from international cricket in 2004 after crafting a match-winning 76 in his final innings, against New Zealand.

Against the same country, he had made history by becoming the first-ever Protea to play in 100 Test matches.

Over the years, Kirsten gained a reputation as being a sturdy batsman in both Test cricket and One Day cricket.

He could up the tempo of an innings if he needed to, but more often than not he simply waited for the bad ball in test cricket.

He was also a reliable fielder.

Kirsten held the South African records for most runs and centuries in a Test career, before both were surpassed by Jacques Kallis.

He was the first Test batsman to make hundreds against each of the other 9 Test nations.

He scored 275 runs against England as a result of batting for over 14 1⁄2 hours as South Africa followed on at Kingsmead in Durban, it still stands as the second-longest innings (in terms of duration) in Test history.

In November 2007, it emerged that Kirsten was a candidate for the vacant post of coach of the India team.

The BCCI offered him a two-year contract for the post, and despite voicing reservations about concerns he had about having the full support of the Indian players, he confirmed he would be taking the job on 4 December.

Kirsten was the coach of the Indian cricket team from 2008 to 2011, going on to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Kirsten officially started as a coach on 1 March 2008.

However, he travelled to Australia with India beforehand during the test series.

His first full series in charge was against his home country, South Africa in March–April 2008 which was drawn 1–1.

Also, he coached India to the finals of the Kitply Cup and 2008 Asia Cup (India lost both the finals).

During his tenure as Coach of India, the Indian cricket team won a home series against Australia beating them 2–0.

Apart from clinching the Border-Gavaskar trophy, he also coached India to its first bilateral series win in Sri Lanka against Sri Lanka and India's first Test and One-Day International series victories against New Zealand in New Zealand after 40 years.

India also won the Compaq Cup, defeating Sri Lanka in the finals on 14 September 2009 by 46 runs.

A highly accomplished batsman himself, he has brought in a considerable amount of improvement in the batting performances, which is largely associated with his ability to instill better confidence among younger players.

Kirsten has been praised by all players for improving/enhancing their playing techniques, motivating them and discussing tactics that can be deployed on the field.

The results could be clearly seen within months.

He is considered the key force behind the clearly visible performance improvement in all players.

In 2010, Prior to the start of India's tour of South Africa, Indian captain M.S. Dhoni described him as "The best thing to happen to Indian cricket."

He was appointed as the coach of the South African cricket team in June 2011, and he stepped down in August 2013.

This record stood until it was surpassed by Chris Gayle who scored 215 against Zimbabwe in 2015.

Later, that record was surpassed by Martin Guptill who scored 237* against the West Indies in the quarter-finals of that very World Cup.

After retirement, Kirsten organized his own cricket academy.

In 2017, Kirsten spoke to HBR about the qualities of a great coach, coaching a young team, and learning from one's mistakes.

Some edited excerpts of his interview are online.

After the tour of South Africa, which India drew 1–1 in the Test series lost 3–2 in ODIs, Kirsten announced he would not renew his contract with BCCI because of family commitments.

Kirsten often stated that he wanted to spend time with his two growing sons, Joshua and James, and his wife.

He has also stated that he felt three years away from home was long enough.