The South African will continue his association with Team India at least till the 2011 World Cup. This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Gary Kirsten is not going anywhere. Not even to his home country. The South African will continue his association with Team India at least till the 2011 World Cup. This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
“He will continue his stint with the Indian team,” Board president Shashank Manohar told DNA. “We’ll renew his contract,” he added.
Kirsten’s two-year contract with the Indian team is set to expire in March but the BCCI wants to extend the deal till the 2011 World Cup. The South African had joined Team India in March 2008. The full details of his contract, however, remain unclear.
There has been intense speculation over Kirsten’s likely migration to South Africa since their long-time national coach Mickey Arthur suddenly stepped down last week.
Kirsten, one of the most successful coaches in the world, was tipped to replace him at a later stage. Reports in both South Africa and the Indian media suggested that Cricket South Africa will offer him a job after the current series. The CSA has appointed Corrie van Zyl as a caretaker coach for the India series.
When contacted, Kirsten refused to go into details. “I have not been contacted by the CSA,” was all he would say while the SA board said that it is yet to initiate the process of finding a full time replacement for Arthur. “You should tell us about Gary. We have not yet initiated the process,” Gerald Majola told this newspaper.
Kirsten is currently paid $30,000 per month by the BCCI and if he were to take up the South Africa job, reports suggest, he would have had to take a heave pay cut. But a close friend of Kirsten said that the India coach was very happy with his job. “He treats the Indian team as his own and he would never have considered another offer. He is a very committed guy,” Kirsten’s Cape Town-based friend said.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Team India will have to do without a fielding coach for the series. There were reports that Australian Mike Young, who worked with the team as a fielding consultant during last year’s series against Sri Lanka, will be recalled but Young confirmed to this newspaper that he would not be with MS Dhoni & Co. “There was a possibility but it is not the case now,” he said.
South African Eric Simons will be part of the Kirsten-led support staff till the end of the series as the team’s bowling consultant.
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