Thaindian News

Mumbai, April 5 (IANS) After an outstanding three-year tenure as its coach, South African Gary Kirsten Tuesday bid adieu to the World Cup-winning Indian cricket team, saying it was was one of the hardest goodbyes but he was happy to leave Indian cricket in a “healthy” state.

“It has been one of the hardest good byes I have had to say. I think it was interesting to come into this job without any coaching experience. I used the reference of being a player to work with the team. I tried building trust in the environment. Me and Paddy (Upton) tried to make sure that they knew that we had come to India to make it the best team in the world,” an emotional Kirsten told reporters at the Cricket Centre in the Wankhede Stadium, where he guided the Indian team to lift the World Cup after 28 years ago only three days ago.

Kirsten was not worried about his immediate future but said catching the flight to Cape Town Tuesday night was the best option for him as he wants to spend time with his family.

“I am going home to spend some time with my family. But I have to consider my future at some time. I have been fortunate to have been offered some jobs but I want to spend time with my family right now,” he said.

Kirsten said Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest sporting model he has ever met.

“It has been a great privilege to coach the Indian team. It has been an honour to be alongside Sachin Tendulkar. He is the greatest sporting role model I have ever met. The passion for the game he has is unparalleled,” said Kirsten.

“We achieved both our goals to be the World Champions and the number one Test side. The way the players handled the weight of expectations of the entire country was remarkable,” he said.

He also predicted a bright future for the team and felt Zaheer Khan is the best medium pacer in the world.

Kirsten said Zaheer is the most dangerous against the left-handers. Zaheer, along with Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, was the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup with 21 scalps.

“Zaheer is the best bowler in the world right now. He performs well under pressure. I think he is an unbelievable bowler to left-handers,” Kirsten said.

The South African spoke highly of the other Indian bowlers but stressed they need support of the reserves.

“I was impressed with Munaf Patel. He performed well in the World Cup. Ashish Nehra also did well. Zaheer has been No.1 for a long time but these guys need support. Pragyan Ojha too has done well and he just needs to keep learning what he has to do,” he said.

On the batting front, he said: “Virat Kohli is ready for Test cricket. He is a bright young star. He has taken the responsibility of playing for India in big games really well. You cannot be in the team with average performances.”

“I have also enjoyed working with Suresh Raina. He has been an exceptional player. I have been impressed with Cheteshwar Pujara who can be a star of the future in Test matches.”

Kirsten made special mention of comeback man Yuvraj Singh, the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup.

“He was well-prepared and he had worked hard on his bowling. For Yuvi to end up being man of the tournament, I am extremely proud of him,” he said.

Kirsten was also concerned about the future of “highly skilled” fast bowler S. Sreesanth and said it will be waste of talent if he doesn’t take the next step in his career.

Kirsten said the Kerala pacer is good in the Test matches but needs to be more consistent in the shorter version of the game. The temperamental fast bowler featured in two World Cup matches, the tournament opener against Bangladesh and the final against Sri Lanka, but went for runs on both occasions.

“Sreesanth is not only one who has not performed to his full potential so far. He has performed brilliantly in South Africa and in other Test matches. But I feel he needs to be consistent in ODIs,” said Kirsten.

“Hopefully, he will be able to take that next step and if he is unable to do that, it will be a waste of talent.”

Kirsten felt that except for feidling, there is “nothing much to improve” in the Indian team.

“They are the number one Test team in the world and won the World Cup, so there is nothing much to improve. We have been working really hard on fielding and I was quite amazed at the way we fielded in the last three games of the World Cup,” he said.

Kirsten said it would be quite a tough job for his successor.

“It is going to be tough for the new coach in terms of the standards that have been set. But I don’t see why the team should not continue doing well. The foundation has been set. The new coach should bring in fresh ideas,” he said.