Having been trusted with the responsibility of being the coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) ahead of next year's IPL season, Gary Kirsten has said that he is extremely excited about the opportunity to make a difference to the franchise and hopefully, see them winning their maiden Indian Premier League trophy.
Kirsten has been named the new coach and mentor and will be part of the elite coaching leadership group, that will assist the team take the field as best equipped as possible.
Regarding the development, Kirsten, who has previously been a successful coach with the Indian Team, said, “What I enjoy about coaching is working out what the environment requires, When I joined the Indian team, we didn’t know anyone. They were looking for a coach to fit that environment. The same applies for any team - what are the leadership qualities, and where do you fit in it. It requires time. How can I get the best out of players? It is as simple as that."
Talking about his mantra and ethics as a coach, Kirsten said, “My coaching philosophies will not always work. I’m comfortable with that. I’m hopeful that in some environments, they do work. I’ve had failure and success in my coaching career. We reached the final (of the Big Bash League) with the (Hobart) Hurricanes, and we finished last with Delhi – both ends of the spectrum."
"One thing you know for certain as a coach – you either have been fired, or you’re about to be fired! Hopefully, more times than not, you will get it right rather than wrong. I’m not the head coach, that’s not the RCB way this year. I’ll look forward to working with the leadership group and captain, and flattening the structure to provide for good thinking across the board. And hopefully, create success for this franchise." he added.
Kirsten is very much excited about the spread of work and responsibilities within the coaching group that he is getting with the RCB and said, “To be honest, it( accountability on different individuals rather than all on one) makes me more excited than any other way,” he insists. “I want to get on with the work, wherever I can add value. For me, it’s all about what we can achieve collectively. I am not interested in the accolades and other stuff. I just want to add value to the group. To have a joint leadership role is more exciting for me than being the head coach.”
Kirsten is very much aware of sole ambition that he has been roped in with too.
“That’s the big challenge for us all, IPL has had 11 years now, the most successful IPL teams, you have to ask them that question. What are the things that are allowing you to have more success than the other teams? They could probably articulate it quite well, they could say these are the things that happen." Kirsten said.
“Every team is trying to create that. We will look at the things that have been good for us at RCB in the past, and we will hold on to those things and then we will create some new behaviours, we will create a new language that allows us to go from where we are now to get there because we want to be that team." he added, "Every team is aspiring to win the IPL, obviously. But it is what we can bring in that shifts us to that. For any leader in an organization or a group of people, that is the responsibility. What are those new behaviours you want to bring into the group that allows them to go from this level to the next? What are the things that have allowed you to get there? That’s how you build culture but as you say, you have got eight weeks to do it, it’s not easy. But it’s possible because you have got a 10-year history.”
(Inputs from Cricket Next)
