“Everyone gets on and respects other peoples’ opinions, and decisions are then taken.”

The former South African opener’s first assignment is just over a week away, against the team that he represented with great success for nearly a decade. In this conversation, Kirsten shares his views on a wide range of topics.

Excerpts:

On starting off against the Proteas: I am looking forward to it, this is a job. I finished with the South African team four years ago. As we know with cricket coaches around the world, your job is on the line from day one. I will be wanting the Indian team to put in a convincing performance, that’s it. South Africa is a very competitive team, they are playing good cricket. They play well in India. The reason I say it is I know how we used to prepare when we came here. Their preparation will be good, they have got some exciting young fast bowlers and some experienced batsmen. Equally, India will look forward to playing at home again. This Indian team is going from strength to strength at the moment. We can all get excited about the fast bowlers that are showing what they are capable of at the international level. I would like to see the momentum continuing from the Australian tour. If we can win a series against a team like South Africa, we are certainly on the right road. I would like to assist this team to do that.

On India as a travelling unit: They have made huge strides. That’s something that was discussed a lot in Australia among the players, something that they were aware of. They left Australia with enormous amount of pride, knowing that they went to a foreign country and performed exceptionally well in both forms. The Test and one-day teams can both hold their heads high, that they were able to adapt to conditions really well. They will be very encouraged about that going forward.

On Kumble the skipper: I am very impressed with Anil Kumble and with MS Dhoni as captains. In those two players, you have two tremendous leaders. You have a young leader and an older leader. For me from a captaincy point of view, the longer you can work with these guys, the better.

On the need for balance between youth and experience: That’s very important. The balance of the team in the Test side is probably weighted towards experience. The team is performing well, the individuals are performing well; they want to play and they are enjoying playing. It’s important to have those guys around. But at some stage, it is going to require some planning. You can’t have five guys retiring at once and then putting in five new players is going to be tough. A young batsman at some stage is going to have to make his mark, but there is no rush for that just yet.

On how he expects the phasing out of seniors to be received in India: Not well. As we have noticed, I don’t think it is that well received. I think ‘phasing out’ is the wrong term. You need to have an exit plan for them in which they are involved. A couple of these players have left legacies behind, have provided massive entertainment and been tremendous role models to this country. They deserve an exit plan. I would certainly like to be instrumental in a couple of these senior players having an exit strategy, looking down the line and saying what are you looking at and what can Indian cricket provide for you to make sure you leave in a happy space.

On the pressures of coaching India: It’s a challenge, but it’s also a privilege. It comes with the territory. The privilege of coaching a national team of this stature, I don’t think you can turn down lightly. There are pressures that come with it, but one needs to accept those pressures.