'These are my people' - Gary Kirsten recalls the time MS Dhoni cancelled the Indian team's trip when the former coach was denied entry

Gary Kirsten was one of the most successful Indian coaches of all time. Under his guidance, the Indian team acquired the number 1 spot in ICC Test ranking table in 2009 and went on to become the World Champions after a span of 28 years in 2011. Kirsten was appointed India coach in late 2007 after the controversial tenure of the Indian team and Greg Chappell ended. 

India’s then captain MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten shared a good camaraderie with each other and their partnership led the Indian cricket team to new heights and victory both at home and abroad. The two have always spoken highly of each other. Recently, Gary revealed that one of the traits that made Dhoni the best captain to ever have captained the Indian cricket team is his loyalty towards his players and staff. 

Showering praises on the former Indian captain, Kirsten said on The RK Show on YouTube, “I’ve said on many occasions, he’s one of the most impressive people I’ve met,” said Kirsten. “He’s a great leader of people, he’s got an incredible presence as a leader, but I think he’s loyal, and that’s the most important thing.”

MS was very loyal to me, says Gary Kirsten 

Reminiscing an incident from the past, the former South African cricketer shared that the Ranchi Starwalt once cancelled the whole trip as three South African staff members including Gary were not allowed due to security reasons. While travelling to a flight school in Bangalore, the authorities refrained some members from going there, so Dhoni proceeded to cancel the trip for the whole team as a show of solidarity. 

“I’ll never forget, just before the World Cup, we were invited to Bangalore to go to the flight school, to go and kind of have a look at that. Obviously, we had a couple of foreigners in our support staff, and we got word back on the morning before the whole team was meant to go – and everyone was looking forward to the event – that the three South Africans, which were myself, Paddy Upton and Eric Simmons, weren’t going to be allowed into the flight school because it was seen as a potential security risk,” said the 52-year-old. 

“So MS cancelled the whole event. He just said, ‘These are my people. If they’re not allowed in, none of us are going’. He was very loyal to me, and I think he saw it as well, there were times when we didn’t always win games and we’d have some tough times. We’d spend a lot of time, just one on one together, talking through, taking the team forward. I think we built a strong relationship in the three years we had together.” he added.