Former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten’s CV as a coach is quite impressive. He has coached the star-studded Indian cricket team, Proteas national side, different franchises in IPL and BBL after calling time on his international career in 2004.

During Kirsten’s tenure, Team India achieved great heights across all formats of the game. They reached the top of the ICC Test rankings and also won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.

Speaking to Adam Collins in 'The Final Word cricket podcast' show on YouTube, Kirsten recalled his time with the Indian team.

The 55-year-old claimed that he sensed a 'lot of scarring' and 'unhappiness' in the team after his appointment as head coach in December 2007.

"The standout for me then was what kind of leadership was then required to take this very talented team and turn it into a world-beating team. That was the conundrum for any coach moving into that situation. When I took over there was definitely a lot of scaring in the team. There was a lot of unhappiness and hence for me it was more important to understand each individual and where they felt they fitted in the team and what was going to make them play cricket for the sheer joy," Kirsten said.

The South African batting great also revealed that batting legend Sachin Tendulkar was 'deeply unhappy' and was contemplating retirement at that period.

"Sachin was probably a stand out for me because he was deeply unhappy at the time that I joined the team. He felt he had a lot to offer, but he wasn't enjoying his cricket and he was at a time in his career when he felt may be he should retire. It was important for me to connect with him and make him feel that he had a massive contribution to make to the team and his contribution was more than what he needed to do."

Kirsten heaped praise on former skipper MS Dhoni, with whom he formed a great partnership to bring many laurels to Indian cricket.

"Any coach would want a group of players playing for the name on the front of the short and not the name on the back of the shirt. India is a tough place with a lot of hype around individual superstar and you often get lost in what your own personal needs are. And Dhoni meanwhile was standout as a leader as he was so focused on the team doing well he wanted to win trophies and have great success and he was very public about that. And that pulled a lot of other guys into line and quite simply Sachin started enjoying cricket as well," he explained.

"MS and I formed the most unlikely partnership of captain-coach you will ever imagine in international game, and we end up having this incredible journey together."