Gautam Gambhir Meets Ex-Coach Gary Kirsten, Now Guiding Sri Lanka. This Happens Next
Gary Kirsten and Gautam Gambhir once shared a cricket dressing room and even won a World Cup together. Now, they find themselves in rival camps
- Gary Kirsten coaches Sri Lanka while Gautam Gambhir coaches India in cricket
- Earlier, Gautam Gambhir played under coach Gary Kirsten during India's World Cup-winning campaign
- "We actually spoke about coaching and the challenges of coaching," Kiresten said about their recent meeting
Gary Kirsten and Gautam Gambhir once shared a cricket dressing room and even won a World Cup together. Now, they find themselves in rival camps. Gautam Gambhir is the coach of the Indian cricket team, while Gary Kirsten is the coach of Sri Lanka. They came face to face during the first India vs England Test. "We didn't do much reminiscing; we actually spoke about coaching and the challenges of coaching, and we both have strong values around Test cricket. So we had a good conversation around that, obviously trying to help our players play the best cricket they can in both countries," Kirsten told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Despite going down to India in the first Test, head coach Gary Kirsten was pleased to see Sri Lankan players embracing the challenges that the red-ball format offers. The 165-run defeat to India was Sri Lanka's second defeat in three Tests after going down to the West Indies by an innings and 217 runs at North Sound, Antigua, in June.
"I'm particularly excited by being involved with Sri Lankan cricket. I think there are some great players here, but the team still needs to develop. It is sometimes tough when you don't play Test cricket to understand how you need to play it," Kirsten said in the post-match press conference.
"This is now our third Test match in the space of a couple of months, and I can already see the team developing, and we're starting to build some shape into the team.
"But we need to be able to turn it into a performance at some point. But as I said, we're kind of building that and developing that as best we can," he added.
Kirsten was happy to see the fight Sri Lanka showed despite being reduced to 99 for five in the early part of their first innings and then dragging the match into the fifth and final day.
"From being 99 for 5 at the beginning of the third day to then taking the Test match into the afternoon of the fifth day was particularly pleasing. There was a bit of fight, and we were keen to try and stay in the Test match.
"We still believed even this (Wednesday) morning that we could make something happen, either win the Test match or certainly draw it. So, I was really pleased with the energy and the attitude of the team around that.
"But I think if you look at the Test match, we battled with the bat, especially in our top order, in both innings, and that probably cost us," he added.
With PTI inputsÂ
Gautam Gambhir
India Cricket Team
Sri Lanka Cricket Team