'Sachin Tendulkar was deeply unhappy...,' reveals former head coach Gary Kirsten

image-le413ywrSachin Tendulkar and Gary Kirsten during nets

Year 2007 was one of the worst years for fans of Indian Cricket. India suffered a humiliating first-round exit from the ODI World Cup that year which was held in West Indies. After losing the final in 2003 to Australia, expectations were high from the Indian team in 2007.

However, under Rahul Dravid's captaincy, India registered one of their worst World Cup campaigns. India lost their opening game against Bangladesh by 5 wickets, before winning by 257 runs against Bermuda. However, a 69-run loss to Sri Lanka in a must-win final league game saw them exit the tournament even before advancing to the second round.

Several reports at that time claimed that Sachin Tendulkar contemplated retirement after the Caribbean debacle. Shortly after the World Cup, Gary Kirsten was appointed as the new head coach of the team, who recalled the mood in the Indian camp after the 2007 World Cup exit in a recent podcast.

"When I took over there was definitely a lot of scaring in the team. There was a lot of unhappiness and hence for me it was more important to understand each individual and where they felt they fitted in the team and what was going to make them play cricket for the sheer joy," Kirsten said in 'The Final Word cricket podcast' show on YouTube.

Kirsten further said that Tendulkar was deeply unhappy at that time, and was thinking of calling it quits from the game. 

"Sachin was probably a stand out for me because he was deeply unhappy at the time that I joined the team. He felt he had a lot to offer, but he wasn't enjoying his cricket and he was at a time in his career when he felt maybe he should retire."

"(MS) Dhoni meanwhile was standout as a leader as he was so focused on the team doing well he wanted to win trophies and have great success and he was very public about that. And that pulled a lot of other guys into line and quite simply Sachin started enjoying cricket as well," Kirsten added.

Under MS Dhoni’s captaincy and Kirsten’s coaching, India won the 2011 World Cup in India, after which the former South Africa cricketer left the job of India's head coach; meanwhile, the Master Blaster continued for two more years.