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Gary Kirsten named chief coach of Delhi Daredevils

September 3, 2013

Gary_KirstenHyderabad, Sep 3: Former India coach Gary Kirsten was today appointed chief coach of the Delhi Daredevils for the seventh season of the Indian Premier League.

The 45-year-old South African, who guided the national team to World Cup triumph in 2011 apart from taking the Test side to the No.1 spot, has been roped in to turn the fortunes of one of the most popular franchises in the IPL after their disastrous eighth-place finish in the last season.

However, the support staff will remain intact with Eric Simons now working as an assistant coach alongside his close friend while T A Sekar continues to be the Team Mentor.

Mushtaq Ahmed is also expected to be the spin consultant once again.

"It is indeed a massive privilege to work with the Delhi Daredevils side after having worked with two international sides (India and South Africa). I have always maintained that building a quality side is a process and I am looking forward to taking up this new challenge in franchise cricket," Kirsten told mediapersons here.

Kirsten admitted that it was through his "old friend" Simons that he was offered the role of chief coach.

"I was recommended by Mr Simons and after having a chat with the owners, I found them to be good people. My job will be to help the boys perform to the best of their abilities. Also having Simons around helps a lot as we go back a long way and complement each other really well."

"The IPL at this stage of my career is a perfect thing to have happened considering the commitments I have towards my family. They are my priority and devoting three months a year is fine for me," the soft-spoken gutsy opener of yesteryears explained.

The newly appointed chief coach did admit that a whole lot of thought process needs to go into building a good team as there will be a fresh auction before IPL VII next year.

As a coach, would he like the controversial 'Player Retention Policy' to be done away with which might give a chance to re-visit the hit combination of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gary Kirsten?

To this question, there was a huge grin and he replied, "I am not going to let out any strategies at the moment. That will be between me and the owners. It's a quick tournament and it is important to carry on with a momentum. Yes, I have some names that I would want in my team having had the knowledge of working in India.

"I will reveal those names to the owners when the time is right. Obviously, T20 demands a certain level of skill sets and I would like to get that in my team also."

Kirsten did admit that he doesn't have a magic formula to change Daredevils' fledgling performance overnight. He feels that it would be unfair if the Daredevils' fans expect him to work wonders since he has had a successful stint with the Indian team.

"Success should teach one to be humble. Whatever success I have had with the Indian team is not relevant over here. It's a new start and I need to be as humble as possible. I do have the expertise of a fantastic support staff," he said.

With so many coaches in the team, is there a chance of clash of ideas? Kirsten gave a pragmatic reply.

"It's my responsibility. I believe we have a mutual role of information sharing. Obviously, everyone has got a lot of experience in coaching and we can have exchange of ideas before coming to a final decision."

Team Mentor and noted fast bowling coach, Sekar stated that it was an unanimous decision by the management to appoint Kirsten as the coach after an intense performance review session.

"Gary's credentials are unquestionable and we are confident that he will take the team to greater heights. The respect that both senior Indian and South African cricketers have for him is immense," he said.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Jan 10: Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s prized 'baggy green' cap raised more than A$1 million ($686,000) on Friday for bushfire relief efforts after the former leg-spinner donated it for auction.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and thousands made homeless in recent months as huge fires scorched through more than 25.5 million acres of land, an area the size of South Korea.

The baggy green is presented to Australian players when they make their Test debut and they receive just one for their entire career. The Aussie cricketer donated the cap to an online auction site on Monday. The auction closed at 10 a.m. on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday) with a final public bid of A$1,007,500.

"Unbelievable … so generous from everyone. Totally blown away," Warne said on Twitter shortly before the auction closed.

The auction attracted global interest and the price eclipsed the A$425,000 achieved by the late Don Bradman's baggy green when it was sold in 2003.

"We have been overwhelmed and it is a fantastic result," Marc Cheah, head of marketing for auctioneers Pickles, said.

"Other baggy greens have been auctioned and Don Bradman’s got $425,000 about 15 years ago, but the Don is the Don. He’s the greatest cricketer that ever lived," Cheah said in relation to the widely held recognition Bradman was the best batsman the game has produced.

"But Shane is also right up there and that drove a lot of traffic and momentum, while the cause is also very worthwhile."

Warne, 50, is one of many local and international athletes to support the fundraising for bushfire victims with several cricketers promising to donate a sum based on the number of sixes they hit in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

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News Network
April 6,2020

London, Apr 6: As the coronavirus brings the international sports calendar to a grinding halt, news agency Sport looks at three long-standing habits which could change forever once competition resumes.

Saliva to take shine off swing bowling

It's been a tried and trusted friend to fast bowlers throughout the history of cricket. But the days of applying saliva to one side of the ball to encourage swing could be over in the aftermath of Covid19.

"As a bowler I think it would be pretty tough going if we couldn't shine the ball in a Test match," said Australia quick Pat Cummins.

"If it's at that stage and we're that worried about the spread, I'm not sure we'd be playing sport."

Towels in tennis - no touching

Tennis players throwing towels, dripping with sweat and blood and probably a tear or two, at ball boys and girls, has often left fans sympathising for the youngsters.

Moves by officials to tackle the issue took on greater urgency in March when the coronavirus was taking a global grip.

Behind closed doors in Miki, ball boys and girls on duty at the Davis Cup tie between Japan and Ecuador wore gloves.

Baskets, meanwhile, were made available for players to deposit their towels.

Back in 2018, the ATP introduced towel racks at some events on a trial basis, but not everyone was overjoyed.

"I think having the towel whenever you need it, it's very helpful. It's one thing less that you have to think about," said Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas when he was playing at the NextGen Finals in Milan.

"I think it's the job of the ball kids to provide towels and balls for the players."

Let's not shake on it

Pre-match handshakes were abandoned in top football leagues just before the sports shutdown.

Premier League leaders Liverpool also banned the use of mascots while Southampton warned against players signing autographs and stopped them posing for selfies.

Away from football, the NBA urged players to opt for the fist bump rather than the long-standing high-five.

"I ain't high-fiving nobody for the rest of my life after this," NBA superstar LeBron James told the "Road Trippin' Podcast".

"No more high-fiving. After this corona shit? Wait 'til you see me and my teammates’ handshakes after this shit."

Basketball stars were also told not to take items such as balls or teams shirts to autograph.

US women's football star Megan Rapinoe says edicts to ban handshakes or even high-fives may be counter-productive anyway.

"We're going to be sweating all over each other all game, so it sort of defeats the purpose of not doing a handshake," she said.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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