Former India coach Gary Kirsten has triggered a debate over social media after his disclosure about India stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. In a recent interview, the former South Africa batter made a shocking revelation about Sachin Tendulkar as he said that when he joined the team as a coach, Sachin Tendulkar was very ‘Unhappy’.
Kirsten who has been India’s most successful coach has revealed this while talking on the cricket show. In an interview with Adam Collins for ‘The Final Word cricket podcast’, the South African recalled his time as India’s coach.
According to Kirsten, when he first joined the team in December 2007, he noticed a lot of ‘unhappiness’ among the star players, including Sachin Tendulkar. He also explained why MS Dhoni, with his cool demeanor, stood out among these players.
“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 maybe 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 said.
Gary Kirsten praised MS Dhoni which took Twitter on storm
He further praised then-India Captain MS Dhoni for his calmness and forthrightness.
“India is a pretty tough place with a lot of hype around individual superstars. Amid this kind of hype, you often get lost in what your personal needs are. Meanwhile, Dhoni was standout as a leader as he was so focused on the team doing well. He just wanted to win trophies and have great success. He was also very public about that. It helped pull a lot of other guys into line and as a result, Sachin Tendulkar started enjoying cricket as well,” Kirsten further added.
However, Kirsten’s comment about Dhoni didn’t go well as fans trolled the former India Captain on social media. A fan took to Twitter and wrote, “means other people were not interested in winning the Trophy? were others busy in stat padding like the previous Indian captain?”
Here are a few Tweets:
Mahi ❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/PcvUImz8bI
— RK 2.O (@Mahigoat007) February 14, 2023
It won’t give os century for dhobi
— ` (@goaxtone8) February 14, 2023
nice contribution from DHOBI pic.twitter.com/fqSjqyWjeV
— DRIVE. (@COVERDRlVE18) February 14, 2023
Wish he would have focused on scoring overseas century
— viratfan18 (@viratfan186) February 14, 2023
means other people were not interested in winning Trophy ?
were others busy in statpadding like the previous Indian captain ?— Ranveer (@_22divided_by7) February 14, 2023
That's why he lost 7 to 8 icc trophies and won 3 which one of it is in india with beast team and other 2 where he has zero contribution either as a captain or a batsmen
— Rohit Sharma (@hitmangoat45) February 14, 2023
https://twitter.com/Kohliflyer/status/1625356171011043334?s=20
Still Ended up winning only 1 ODI WC 😭😂😂😂
— Peter Dust 🇳🇿🇦🇺 (@PeterDust22) February 14, 2023
Only captain to loose 7 icc trophies😣
— 𝗔𝘆𝘂𝘀𝗵 🇮🇳 (@RofiedAyush) February 14, 2023