Kirsten's role in the upcoming series was kept under wraps. It was his wife Deborah who informed TOI about Kirsten's assignment. "Gary is on an assignment with the Proteas in Johannesburg," Deborah said.
In the run-up to the first Test, Kirsten will be working with South Africa's batting unit. But more than his technical inputs, the team management is sure to benefit from Kirsten's wealth of knowledge about Indian players. Having been associated with them for nearly four years, Kirsten knows the strengths and weaknesses of most players. It would be interesting to see whether he has any tips for veteran opener Graeme Smith, who has been tormented by Zaheer Khan in the recent past.
"We all know how good a coach he is...he was there with us when we toured Abu Dhabi for the series against Pakistan and returned after the first Test. We felt his inputs would be necessary before the series versus India. Not Graeme alone, Kirsten will work with all our batsmen," Prasanna, the video-analyst of the South African team, said.
Elaborating on the importance of having Kirsten on board, Prasanna added: "He had guided India and South Africa to the No 1 spot (in Test rankings). His knowledge of the teams is unbelievable. We will look to make the most of it."
Former South African batsman Daryl Cullinan, though, was not too sure how important Kirsten's role will be. "The Indian players will know exactly the kind of information that will be passed on to the South Africans by Gary. If Gary knows the Indian players well, the likes of Dhoni and Kohli too know their former coach well. I think it gets balanced out in the end," Cullinan said.
Cullinan, however, feels Kirsten's batting tips would be valuable. "He is a superb batting coach and the likes of Smith, Hashim (Amla) and Jacques (Kallis) would be looking forward to interacting with him," opined Cullinan.
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