Gary Kirsten set for IPL return, in talks with Rajkot
Gary Kirsten. (Source: PTI)
Former India coach Gary Kirsten, who recently parted way with Delhi Daredevils, is likely to return to the Indian Premier League as coach of the new Rajkot team, which is owned by Intex.
It is learnt that the Rajkot team, which has the ownership rights for two years, is keen to rope in the South African who has the experience of working with Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja during his stint with the Indian team.
Though Kirsten was coach of the Delhi Daredevils for two seasons, the team enjoyed little success while he was in charge. But his record as coach of national teams, including India and South Africa, have been impressive.
The Rajkot team is keen to hire a coach who has the experience of coaching at the highest level.
According to a source, the players picked during the draft have been told that the team in all likelihood will get Kirsten on board.
After coaching India to the 2011 World Cup title, Kirsten returned home and joined the South African set-up in order to be closer to his young family. Under Kirsten, South Africa regained the No.1 Test ranking. South Africa also won Test series in New Zealand, England and Australia when Kirsten was the coach.
Raina, Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo are the five players Rajkot picked during the player draft.
The other new team Pune, owned by Sanjeev Goenka, is likely to hire Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming. If Fleming comes on board he will once again team-up with MS Dhoni.
The captain-coach duo have enjoyed considerable success in the T20 league as they have won two IPL titles and were runners-up on three on occasions. At the player draft, Pune picked two other Super Kings players – Faf Du Plessis and Ravinchandran Ashwin. Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith, both from Rajasthan Royals, are also part of the Pune team.
