MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni (Credits: Twitter)

MS Dhoni – Gary Kirsten partnership is one of the most successful captain – coach partnership in the history of Indian cricket. Kirsten joined Team India as the head coach in 2008 and went on to forge a very successful partnership with MS Dhoni. During Kirsten’s tenure and MS Dhoni’s captaincy, Team India reached unprecedented heights.

In 2008, the Men in Blue won the historic tri-series in Australia. In the following year, India rose to the top of the ICC Test Rankings for the first time before winning the Asia Cup in 2010. A year later, the MS Dhoni-led side won the World Cup before Kirsten decided to part ways with the team.

Kirsten recently recalled his partnership with MS Dhoni and lavished praise on the former India captain. Recalling his time with Team India, the former South Africa batsman said that it was MS Dhoni’s loyalty which set him apart. He also called the wicketkeeper-batsman one of the most impressive men he has met in his life.

Gary Kirsten
Gary Kirsten. (Credits: BCCI)

“One of the most impressive people I have met, he is a great leader of people, he’s got incredible presence as a leader, but the most important thing is that he is loyal,” Kirsten said about Dhoni on The RK Show on YouTube.

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He then went on to narrate an incident to explain how Dhoni treated him and his backroom staff as his own during his stint with the Indian team. He recalled how the former India skipper once cancelled a team trip to a flight school in Bengaluru ahead of the 2011 World Cup when Kirsten and other South African members of the backroom staff were denied entry due to security reasons.

“I’ll never forget, just before the World Cup, we were invited in Bangalore to go to the flight school, to go and kind of have a look at that. Obviously, we had a couple of foreigners in our support staff, and we got word back on the morning before the whole team was meant to go – and everyone was looking forward to the event – that the three South Africans, which were myself, Paddy Upton and Eric Simmons, weren’t going to be allowed into the flight school because it was seen as a potential security risk,” recalled Kirsten.

“So MS cancelled the whole event. He just said, ‘These are my people. If they’re not allowed in, none of us are going’. And that was what he was about,” he added.

MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni with the 2011 World Cup (Credits: Twitter)

The South African great further said Dhoni and he saw a lot of ups and downs together. He also said how he and the India legend used to have one on one talks to draw plans for the team.

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“He was very loyal, to me, and I think he saw as well, there were times when we didn’t always win games and we’d have some tough times. We’d spend a lot of time, just one on one together, talking through, taking the team forward. I think we built a strong relationship in the three years we had together,” said Kirsten.

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