Team bonding is key to success: Gary Kirsten

South African coach Gary KirstenUNB

In a video meeting with the national team cricketers and coaching staff, veteran South African coach Gary Kirsten said that team bonding is the key to success. He was invited as a guest by Bangladesh’s head coach Russell Domingo.

Most of the cricketers are stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, a few national cricketers started individual training programmes before Eid. The programme will continue next week.

“Gary Kirsten joined this meeting today. He talked about many things and tried to inspire us. He is a world cup-winning coach. He is a legend to us. Many senior members of the national team asked many questions to Gary, and he replied. There were more than 30 cricketers at the meeting. So it was like a get-together for us. I believe this experience will help us,” Anamul Haque Bijoy, the national team opener told UNB.

Kirsten said that team bonding is the key to becoming a champion team, said Anamul. “He advised us many things. He told us that team bonding is key. It’s a basic thing, but very important for a professional team. He also said that a team is not just a bunch of players, but the other members of the team are also part of the team. It’s like a family. Everyone in the team has different responsibilities,” Anamul added.

Rubel Hossain, the right-arm pacer of Bangladesh team, also said it was a good chance for them to learn from a coach like Gary Kirsten.

“We had joined a meeting with our coach Russell Domingo earlier. Now we got Kirsten who is a veteran coach. It was great to have advice from a legendary coach like him. Cricket is a game where sharing experiences is a good thing,” Rubel told the media.

Right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Shohan, off spinner Nayeem Hasan were also present in the meeting.

Shohan said, “Kirsten was coach of India during their World Cup triumph in 2011. He shared with us the idea how (MS) Dhoni and (Virat) Kohli do their preparations. He also told us how to prepare well to play a good brand of cricket while playing abroad. Riad (Mahmudullah) asked him about how to improve team spirit. He said that everyone should follow the same training schedule and other things so that everyone can think and work alike.”

Nayeem said, “He is a great coach. We have learned many things from him. He shared how he worked with India in 2011 when they won their second World Cup title. He advised us how to improve our game and perform well in the field.”

Most of the national cricketers might join the second phase of individual training programmes starting from next week.

A total of 14 cricketers had joined the programme before the Eid. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials hope more players will join in the second phase.