India deal 'pretty much signed and sealed' - Kirsten

Gary Kirsten: "They [BCCI] have given me a week to make a decision but it's pretty much a reality" © AFP

Gary Kirsten, the former South African batsmen who is the front-runner to become India's next coach, said that the deal with the Indian board would be "pretty much signed and sealed" by Monday.

Kirsten was interviewed in Delhi on November 26 by the coach selection committee, comprising former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan, BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove, treasurer N Srinivasan and secretary Niranjan Shah. Anil Kumble, India's Test captain, was also present at the meeting.

"They [BCCI] have given me a week to make a decision but it's pretty much a reality," Kirsten told PTI. "I have turned down numerous coaching opportunities due to family reasons in the past but this is such an esteemed one that I have to take a different look at it. I am very keen in principle to take up the post.

"At present, I am just looking at the logistics with my family and how it is going to work out. Negotiations are underway about this and I will make a final decision by Monday."

The coach selection committee had wanted to speed up the process by appointing a coach before the tour of Australia next month, but Kirsten said that although the job would become effective immediately, he had obtained an assurance that he could start later because of a number of commitments in South Africa.

"The reality is that I was approached quite late by the Indian board, and, in accepting the job, I told them I had commitments over Christmas and New Year," Kirsten explained to the Age. "But it looks like we are close to resolving that issue, and I will join the team for the last two Tests.

"The last thing you want to do is come in and be a distraction, but I have spoken to Anil [Kumble] about my situation, and he is comfortable with me joining the tour again later. I will not be coming in and imposing my ideas on them. That would be wrong. Instead, I will try and blend in and help anyway I can."

Kirsten, 40, was one of South Africa's leading batsmen, playing 101 Tests scoring 7289 runs at 45.27 and playing 185 ODIs scoring 6798 runs at 40.95. Soon after his retirement from Test cricket in March 2004, he embarked on a coaching career, taking up an assignment as Cricket South Africa's high performance manager, after which he set up the privately-run Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy.