India’s exit from the World Twenty20 championships is being taken with utmost seriousness, and according to media reports, coach Gary Kirsten is expected to a file a incriminating report for the cricket control board, listing the reasons behind it.
Team India coach Gary Kirsten is said to have questioned the “commitment and fitness levels” of the team who had similarly bowed out of T20 Worlds in England last year.
Kirsten had sharp words for his players, saying he was “fitter than some of them”, adding that the players were content to be No. 1 in Tests and No. 2 in ODIs but have not shown enough commitment at the T20 Worlds. The fitness levels of Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma were particularly on the scanner.
Kirsten is expected to convey his strong views to the cricket board at the earliest.
According to television reports, Kirsten held one-on-one meetings with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj, and team seniors Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, after the defeat to Sri Lanka in their last Super Eights encounter.
He then met the rest of the team together and demanded better fitness from the players in a month’s time.
Kirsten is understood to have found three cricketers unfit for any kind of international action.
They are grossly unfit but refuse to take any kind of corrective action, Kirsten is believed to have said in his report.
Some players have reportedly told the team management that were finding it difficult to maintain the code of discipline listed by Kirsten, and the norms thats put a leash on late-night partying, pubbing and drinking were impractical.
They had told Kirsten that off the field they need the “freedom” to do what they wanted, even on tour.
Kirsten, it is learnt, is also miffed with the selectors for choosing a team without consulting him.
Kirsten and the rest of the coaching staff including Eric Simmons and Paddy Upton wanted to include Ishant Sharma for the Zimbabwe tour, as they felt it was Ishant’s best chance of returning to form.