'Spending time as a unit the key'

Vadodara: So, the Indian team has kick-started its preparation for the mother of all battles. And one person who is keenly orchestrating the campaign is coach Gary Kirsten. In an exclusive interview to cricketnirvana.com and Neo Cricket's Assistant Editor Chandresh Narayanan, Kirsten says 'spending time as a unit' leading upto the series is what will benefit the hosts in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Excerpts:
Gary, you have had the first taste of Indian domestic cricket, what do you make of it?
It's been good. I think it is great for the players who are in line to play in the Test side for them to get an outing and to get out there to do their bit. So I'm very happy with the way things have gone, most players have made some sort of contribution. So I am very happy from that point of view.

What are you looking for in this game?
I think the important thing is that the guys get some match-time. We have had quite a bit of time-off from not having the Champions Trophy, so there has been a fair amount of rest. Some of the Test players have been off for six weeks or so. So its to get some match-time and really be together as a unit. And do some proper preparation for the Australian series.

Any positives from the game?
There have been some good contributions with the bat. Everyone that we felt that needed to do something has, which is good news. Also couple of the seamers have bowled really well. So we have taken some positives out of it, hopefully this can be the start of some good form for some of the players

Two players (Munaf and Sehwag) showed a bit of extra passion in this game. As the India coach does it bode well, because you have an important series coming up?
I think competitivenes is great, that's important. I think these players and Indian cricketers in the time that I have known, are very competitive. They are aggressive when they go out there. They have pride in their performances. Absolutely, as long as we get our processes right off the field and we do our necessary preparation, I am sure they will have the game face-on come the Australian series.

Sehwag's lodged an official complaint against Munaf. Will that create any sort of issues in the eam?
No.

In this game we saw Rahul Dravid opening the batting and spending time at the crease. What do you make of his effort?
As I said, I think the important thing for these guys is have some time in the middle. Rahul fulfilled that role perfectly. He batted for nearly 200 balls and spent time out there. Got into what it feels like to be out in the middle facing bowling. Nothing can beat that. As much as match practice we can do, as match simulation we can, nothing can beat actual game-time. I am very happy that he was able to get that.

Then you had MS Dhoni proving yet again how valuable he is as he turned the game around.
He is a world class player. He has proven that certainly this year in the way he has played one-day cricket. I know he is very keen to make an impact at the Test level and this is again something that he can take forward with his performance today.

The Delhi team also had some India players. What did you make of their showing?
Obviously there are a couple of guys who are in line for a Test place. So I was watching them closely. I was very happy with the way Ishant Sharma bowled. He has been world class this year so far. Its great to see him hitting his straps straightaway. Then obviously with Gautam and Viru from the batting side. It was nice to see Gautam get runs in the second innings; he too had some game time. I think its all important for these players in terms of build-up for the series. Its not important if they dont get runs, it doesn't all hinge on this game. There are guys we look at how they have performed in the whole year, but it always helps.

How do you calm the nerves of Kaif and Badrinath. They are two batsmen who are expected to make the cut, but they haven't got the runs. Is that a tough ask for them?
They are experienced cricketers. And at the end of the day I would like to think that selection is not based on one game. I think we need to look at last six-eight months in terms of how they have performed and then make a decision in terms of who will play in the Indian side. It won't necessarily be the two of them, I don't know, it could be other players. Its always difficult to say to a guy here's one chance, take your opportunity, if you don't perform you don't play. You have got to look at it for a longer period.

Your first-choice pace attack - Ishant, Zaheer and Munaf - are doing well. Does the pace bowling give confidence before the Australia series?
Zaheer and Ishant have bowled really well. They bowled well in Sri Lanka. Munaf's worked really hard on his game. Two-three months ago people weren't looking at him, now he is back in the mix. That's thanks to a lot of hard work he has put a lot of time in his game. He is keen and motivated to make that Test side. So that's good news.

What's plan going forward for the series. You have the camp first up...
We started five-six days ago when we got together. This game was very much part of our preparation for the Australian series. We will have about 17 days together. We now go down to Bangalore and spend another five days together. Really working on a lot of specifics and we can get into a lot of one-on-one work. I think we are looking forward to that. I think importantly as well that the players are spending time together as a unit. I think we know this Indian team. When they are really unified and they are working as one, they can do some very special stuff on a cricket field.

So togetherness will be a key factor going into the Australia series?
(smiles) Not the only thing, but certainly one of the important components as I am sure any Test team would say. A happy unit that's backing each other, that's believing in each other, is a unit that can go out and perform on the field.

If there is one person who knows what it takes to beat India in India, its you. You played a key role in South Africa winning in 1999-2000. Is it really that difficult to beat India in India, even now?
Again the Indian players need to be in the right space mentally, need to be well prepared. Certainly that's something that we are trying to do in these 17 days. We are playing against a very competitive team, No 1 ranked team in the world. They will come here well prepared. It bodes well for a very exciting Test series. You know we feel that we are going to be tough to beat if we make sure that we prepare well and do everything that we need to do.

Finally, the last India-Australia Test series was your first taste of the rivalry. What can India hope to pick up from that?
They are two very different series, also that was eight months ago . We have played a lot of cricket since then. I think we performed averagely since that Australian series. I remember arriving in Perth and I have seldom seen such a spirited performance by that Indian team. We hope to replicate some of that. I know the Indian players enjoy playing against Australia.