Former head coach Gary Kirsten mentioned that he had a terrific working relationship with MS Dhoni while he was with the Indian squad. The South African icon also recounted a time when, because to security concerns, Dhoni had to call off a training camp before the 2011 World Cup since the coaches were not allowed to accompany the players.
Captain MS Dhoni and Kirsten paired up as coach as India held ICC ODI World Cup in 2011 in their own country and this was after 28 years of waiting to raise the much coveted trophy. India crushed Sri Lanka to win the final by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was a pursuit of 275 made possible by Dhoni (91* off 79) leading as an example.
In an interview with Rediff.com, Kirsten discussed his relationship with Dhoni during his time as India’s coach. Being led by the’mercurial’ Dhoni was a blessing, the former South African opener acknowledged.
“He was a mercurial, generational talent as a leader. He just did things that people wanted to follow, and so from that perspective, it was incredible working with him. And I think we built a good relationship. It took us a while, but eventually we kind of built a really good leadership relationship.”
Gary Kirsten
The 57-year-old also recounted an instance in which Dhoni defended the coaches when they were refused permission to travel with the players during their 2011 World Cup preparations. He said:
“I’ll never forget it was in our preparation for the World Cup where we wanted to head down to the Bangalore Air Force Academy to do some training and all the players were pretty excited by it. We kind of get up to go and then, the security guys asked all the foreigners, which were some of the coaches, for their passports.
Gary Kirsten
“And the news came back to say, sorry, we can’t permit some of these coaches to come to the academy, it’s a security breach. Dhoni just stood up and said, well, we’re canceling the whole event. If they can’t come, we are not coming. And that was a wow. A great indication of where we were as a team at that time.”
Gary Kirsten
The 2011 World Cup victory was Team India’s second in the ICC event. They had won their first title by defeating England in the 1983 World Cup final.
MS Dhoni was the Player of the Match in the 2011 World Cup final
MS Dhoni had a bad 2011 World Cup batting tournament going into the final. But when it counted most, he stood out and delivered. India was in early danger at 31-2 as they attempted to reach the difficult objective of 275. Gautam Gambhir (97) and Virat Kohli (35) combined for 83 for the third wicket to help India win.
MS Dhoni entered to bat at No. 5 after Kohli was dismissed. Along with Gambhir, he hit eight fours and two sixes to add 109 for the fourth wicket. Off the bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara, the Indian captain also hit the famous six that ended the match.
