> Gary Kirsten is new Indian team coach

The Indian coach selection committee met Kirsten on Monday and the people from the Indian board who met him included names like board president Sharad Pawar, Niranjan Shah, Venkatraghwan and Test team skipper Anil Kumble. This added to the speculation that the board is in the final leg of appointing a coach for the Indian team.

Kirsten was interviewed by a panel headed by Sunil Gavaskar and included Ravi Shastri as well. The South African player had retired from international cricket in 2004 and has the knowledge of the latest developments in the game.

Perhaps it was the hairstyle, but Gary Kirsten always seemed a little older than he was. Then again, it might just be that he became so established at the top of the batting order that it's almost impossible to think how South Africa will cope without him. It's probably fair to say that Kirsten was never blessed with the flair and the almost pure technique of his half-brother Peter. But when it comes to determination, the ability to concentrate for long periods and a burning desire to score runs, there was little to choose between them. A left-hander with a relatively unique technique, Kirsten simply worked out his strengths and weaknesses and based his game around them. In this respect he was probably the most organised batsman to play for South Africa since their readmission. Calm and level-headed, he brought a healthy degree of common sense to the art of batting, which possibly explains why off the field and in the dressing room the dafter side of his personality came out. Periodically, Kirsten endured patches when he persistently got out in similar fashion - chopping the ball on to his stumps, for instance, or getting himself caught down the leg side. Each time this happened, though, Kirsten worked through the problem, made the adjustments and played himself back into form. He enjoyed particular success on the sub-continent - where other players have floundered against the turning ball. Kirsten, though, was drawn on patience and soft hands to see him through. And if there was any player likely to score a big hundred, then it was Kirsten. He currently shares the South African individual Test record of 275 with Daryll Cullinan, but by rights the record should be his alone. After batting for over 14 and a half hours as South Africa followed on against England at Kingsmead in 1999-00, Kirsten contrived to get himself bowled by Mark Butcher. It was only Butcher's second Test wicket. He then returned to haunt England in 2003 and gutsed out a crucial 130 in the Headingley Test, which South Africa won by 191 runs. His good form in that series persuaded him to postpone his retirement until the end of the New Zealand tour in 2003-04. Fittingly, he scored a century in the first Test of that series - his 99th - and scored a typically gritty 76 in his final game to help South Africa tie the series.