Gary Kirsten's first official assignment as India's cricket coach happened to
be against the team he was once part of, and the former South African opener admitted
that there were moments before the drawn Test series when he was uncertain about
his loyalties.
"Whatever I may have said previously, I'd be lying if I said I never had
any doubts about my loyalties if the result of the series was delicately balanced,"
Kirsten was quoted as saying by 'The Beeld' newspaper here.
The Indians managed to draw the series 1-1 after winning the third and final
Test in Kanpur inside three days on a turning track.
And Kirsten said despite the pre-series dilemmas, he had become very clear
as to which team he wanted to support by the time India wrapped up the
series.
"I'm happy to be able to say I wanted India to win the last Test,"
he said.
Kirsten was a part of the South African team till 2004 before retiring from
international cricket. He took over India's coach last month.
Kirsten said coaching an international team like India is tough and he draws
inspiration from his late coach Bob Woolmer to deal with the high-pressure
job.
"I remember how Bob lived for his job as international coach. Even though
the players told him not to get worked up for nothing, he could not calm down,"
he recalled.
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