Former Indian cricket team coach Gary Kristen is all praises for MS Dhoni. The World Cup winning coach Kristen has revealed how Dhoni cancelled an event when foreign members of support staff were not allowed an entry. Talking on The RK Show on YouTube, Kristen Dhoni is “one of the most impressive people” he has met. The former coach also said that Dhoni has got “incredible presence as a leader”. Sourav Ganguly Came to Our Dressing Room After Russel Arnold Confrontation, Says Kumar Sangakkara.

The former South African cricketer then revealed how the former India captain cancelled a team event after he was not allowed. “I’ll never forget, just before the World Cup, we were invited in 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,” Kirsten said.

“So MS cancelled the whole event. He just said, ‘These are my people. If they’re not allowed in, none of us are going’. And that was what he was about,” he said.

“He was very loyal, to me, and I think he saw 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,” Kirsten added.

When India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup under Dhoni, Kirsten was head coach of the team. Under Dhoni and Kristen, the Men in Blue won many tournaments. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 15, 2020 06:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).