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South Africa in India 2007-08
Kirsten and Upton begin coaching sessions
Ajay S Shankar
March 24, 2008
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Gary Kirsten is quietly easing into his new role as India's coach
© Getty Images
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India's new coach Gary Kirsten and his associate Paddy Upton, who is in charge of the team's mental conditioning and fitness, have begun their official stints with workshops of an "exploratory nature" spread across two days at the team hotel in Chennai. The sessions, around 90 minutes each, focused mainly on paths to success and ways to overcome failure.
The players were divided into groups, each asked to devise methods to deal with the two issues. They were also asked to come up with inspiring moments that were crucial in their careers.
"It was a low-key affair where both sides (the new coaches and the players) tried to get a basic understanding of where each was headed," one of those present told Cricinfo. "Both sides were slowly getting to know each other better. One player spoke about coming through a period in which he couldn't score, and another spoke about a key childhood experience."
Some of the major points identified as means to attain success and overcome failure were good planning, better understanding, responsibility, determination and enjoying success.
"It was a stress-free affair, with both sides showing signs of settling down," the participant said. "Many of the players are already beginning to feel comfortable in the new set-up. Most importantly, there were no lectures, or any attempt to say, 'Look, we are going to show you something'. Rather, the idea was to make players look inside and come up with the answers themselves. By the second session, there was a fair amount of involvement from the players, though obviously this is just the beginning."
Though the structure and content of the meetings were hardly new, they were an early indicator of the low-key manner in which Kirsten and Upton have begun to integrate themselves into the Indian set-up. This is in stark contrast to the forceful entry of previous coach Greg Chappell, who had the team in awe initially with his reputation and playing record.
Kirsten's style is much more subtle, starting with the way he reached Australia as a consultant and remained in the background during that controversial series, letting the captain, Anil Kumble, and his think-tank take the big calls.
"For now, and considering past experience, this seems the right way to start. But it's still early days," said another participant.
Ajay Shankar is deputy editor of Cricinfo in Bangalore
© Cricinfo
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