Gary Kirsten
Gary Kirsten [Photo by A. Srinivas]

Gary Kirsten had a successful coaching stint for the Indian cricket team. He severed a term from 2008 to 2011 with the national team and under his mentoring India lifted their second World Cup title. After his stint ended with India, he served as a coach for South Africa, from 2011 to 2013.

Kirsten took some major decisions while serving his country South Africa as well. He replaced Graeme Smith with AB de Villiers as the limited-overs captain of the side. After the stint with national teams, he went on to coach Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Gary Kirsten
Gary Kirsten with Kohli (Credits: Twitter)

Gary Kirtsten: Coaches need to be able to successfully manage all different types of personalities

Gary Kirsten believes there is a variety of skill sets required to be a good coach. It requires tournament preparation, man-management, building a team culture, managing relationships, recruitment, contracting, strategy, recruitment and management of support staff, practice and training facilities, media commitments, team logistics, team feedback loops and debriefs.

“Coaches require a variety of skill sets which allow them to have oversight in every segment of running a professional cricket team,” Kirsten told Daily Sun.

“This includes season and tournament preparation, man-management, building a team culture, managing relationships, recruitment, contracting, strategy, recruitment and management of support staff, practice and training facilities, media commitments, team logistics, team feedback loops and debriefs, consultants and all other services linked to a high performance professional sports team,” he added.

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Gary Kirsten Daniel Vettori Royal Challengers Bangalore
Gary Kirsten replaces Daniel Vettori as Royal Challengers Bangalore coach. Credit: Getty Images

Kirsten also believes there are various personalities in a team and a coach should know how to handle different individuals. He has to set-up a high performing team environment for the success of the side. Kirsten added that a new coach should support players who can drive new culture and ways of doing things.

“Coaches need to be able to successfully manage all different types of personalities so that each player has an opportunity to thrive. The coach is also trying to set a high performing team environment and has a responsibility for the success of the team and not only individuals.”

“Every new coach needs support from players who can drive the new culture or way of doing things. This can take time and to win these players over, requires trust, transparency and good connections. We expect too much from coaches in a short time,” he said.

Kirsten served from 2017 to 2019 for RCB. He was appointed the coach after former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori was sacked from his position.