India had won the 2011 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium, beating Sri Lanka in the finals thanks to a brilliant 97 from Gautam Gambhir and 91* from Indian captain MS Dhoni, who hit the winning six that has become the highlight of that tournament.
Former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten was the coach of the 2011 World Cup winning team and was on his last assignment, before saying goodbye to the team. He still recalls the moment of being carried on the shoulders of the victorious Men in Blue amidst the cheers of "India! India! India!"
NDTV.com caught up with Kirsten in an exclusive interview and here are the excerpts from it.
Talking about MS Dhoni of recent times, Kirsten said, “He just keeps producing and his hunger for performance is amazing. I don't think he has reinvented anything, he has just got back at his incredible consistent best.”
“Lots of teams have a chance including India, so it will be an exciting tournament,” he said about which team should win the 2019 World Cup.
Gary Kirsten is current part of the coaching staff of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, which includes Daniel Vettori and Ashish Nehra. He termed his experience as fantastic and he has enjoyed every minute of it.
Talking about the young talents like Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw, Kirsten said, “I think it is a great platform for any young player to showcase skills and develop their games. They get to play and chat with the best players in the game, how can that not benefit them. The talent in India is just incredible and I have been excited to see all the players come through. That is what the IPL is all about really. If you look at all the young players that have used the IPL as a launching pad for their careers, it is just amazing.”
Kirsten also talked about the cricket academy he is starting in India, “We will be focusing on all aspects of the game and will have programs designed around each age group and skill level as well. We want to provide as best a platform as possible to help players get to another level.”
“Not at the moment. I will be coming back to do quite a bit of work in Pune and look forward to helping drive the business forward. We will be running specialist camps in time and we will definitely be looking to bring in some expertise,” he added.
