Kirsten lands in Bangalore to meet players

Gary Kirsten, the newly appointed India coach, landed in Bangalore today for his first interaction with the players. Unperturbed by the crowd of reporters awaiting his arrival, he said it was great to be back in India and an honour to be chosen as the coach of the national team.

Asked about his agenda during the visit, he said: "I'm going to meet the players and see how they play their cricket. I will also be taking inputs from the team's support staff."

Earlier the Indian board secretary Niranjan Shah confirmed Kirsten will join as coach from March 1. "He will be briefly involved with the Test team as a consultant during the tour to Australia," Shah said. Kirsten confirmed that he will be spending around 3-4 weeks with the team in Australia.

Kirsten stressed the importance of the mental side of sport and is keen to have Paddy Upton, South Africa's fitness trainer during the mid to late nineties and currently working at Kirsten's academy as a mental conditioning coach.

"Kirsten wants to have Upton in the support staff. But we have to discuss the issue with him once he is here but we don't think he is required at the moment," a top BCCI source told Cricinfo. It is learnt that the matter will come up for discussion in the Working Committee meeting in Mumbai on December 16.

Kirsten will get an opportunity to watch the players in action when they take on Pakistan in the third and final Test which starts on Saturday.