New Delhi, April 29 (IANS): Former South African batter Gary Kirsten, who will take charge as Pakistan men’s white-ball coach, said if he manages to lead the side to victory in one of the three upcoming ICC events in his tenure, then it would be an amazing achievement.
Kirsten, who coached India to 2011 Men’s ODI World Cup triumph on home soil, will be coaching Pakistan in white-ball cricket for a period of two years and his first assignment will be a four-match T20I tour of England before playing in the Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA from June 1-29.
"50-over cricket will be as important as T20 cricket. I think the important thing for me is to understand where the team is at and where we want to go to - whether that is winning World Cup events, which, by the way, is not easy. Often some people think you just pitch in and you’re going to win the championship.
"But, if you can win one of those three ICC Events, that will be an amazing achievement on its own, whether it’s the upcoming event or it’s two years from now. My job is to make sure that the team operates at its best, it’s as simple as that. And if the team is operating at its best, we will always have a good chance of winning a trophy. But if the team is not operating at its best, we won't and that would be the same for any team," said Kirsten in an episode of PCB Podcast.
Following the T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA, Pakistan is slated to play two more white-ball events – 2025 Champions Trophy, for which it has hosting rights, and 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, to be played in both India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s last silverware in ICC events came through the 2017 Champions Trophy triumph in England.
"So for me, it will be really important to understand where is the team now and where does it need to go to be able to compete right at the top of the pile, and that’s winning ICC events. You can’t guarantee a trophy, but what you can do is put the steps in place to give yourself the best chance of winning a trophy. And that’s really what I’ll tend to do.
"It is going to be a quick turnaround (for me), there's no doubt, we just have to accept that. But, we are hoping that we can build some structures into the team over the course of the next three weeks or so to provide clarity that the players need going into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
"Pakistan, by the way, and as we all know have got a history of performing well in World Cup events. So, it’s just one of the steps that you need to take to go all the way. It’s as simple as that," added Kirsten, currently with the Gujarat Titans’ side in IPL 2024 as batting coach-cum-mentor.
He also cited establishing a good team environment, as well as focus on consistency and continuity as his initial target of coaching the Pakistan team. "I am certainly a big fan of continuity and consistency. Those are two words that are really important to me. So, there might be some frustrations around players in and out of form, and that happens in the game.
"I would certainly push hard to make sure that the environment remains consistent. If I’m going to pick a player because I backed him, that player is staying and not going anywhere until and unless it gets to a point where we would have to make a shift. As a coach, I’m a big believer in continuity and consistency.
"For me, the most important thing is establishing a really good environment for people to operate at their best, to understand where the players need to be challenged, but also at the same time where they need to be thoroughly enjoying what they do. I don’t have the silver bullet to success, my role is to try and enable the players to play at the absolute maximum of their talents.
"That’s not an easy thing to do in any environment because there’s always a lot of noise. A team loses a game of cricket and then, you know, the noise pops up. What will be incredibly important will be our ability to stay on the course and hold our line in terms of what we believe is the right way to play the game."
Kirsten signed off by urging fans to remain patient around the team’s performances and support the players when they come out to play matches. "I think what’s really important is that the players don’t see this massive support base as a burden of expectation, but rather see it as a journey that they walk hand-in-hand with the Pakistan people.
"So, my message to the Pakistan people would be let’s be patient around performances, number one; and number two, let’s try and identify with the players and support these players as they are your players. We’ve got to be patient around performances.
"We will do our best to make sure the team is winning a lot of games of cricket, but sport wouldn’t be sport if you didn’t lose as well. If you just won everything, you could package it and sell it off to anyone around. These are the steps of success. It’s sports and you’re playing against quality oppositions. They’re going to challenge you all the time.
"So, it’s really just to get behind the team as much as you can to feel that you’re walking a journey with them. Sometimes when you identify and engage your friends who are actually walking hand in hand with you in all these ICC events, these become great images that you can portray to the people."