Sachin has been an amazing role model: Pollock

MUMBAI: Shaun Pollock is occupying the same dressing room at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which the Indian team had used a couple of days back, working their way to World Cup glory.

Sitting there, watching the turf through the thick glass panelled viewing area, he tries recollecting what he saw of India's victory in the final over Sri Lanka on television.

"It was an amazing moment," he says. "A well-deserved victory for a very good team."

Pollock is here for the Indian Premier League, as a mentor for Mumbai Indians, the team he's been associated with for two of the three years and the idea of working with Sachin Tendulkar again has fascinated the former South African all-rounder. "He's been an amazing role model."

Pollock puts a lot of emphasis on the humility of Tendulkar. "From the media, from the public, there's so much pressure. I have travelled with him across the country in the same team bus. To see him keep his focus completely on the game despite the kind of adulation he receives is something."

Pollock says the senior batsman has a very good idea of how youngsters watch his every step and therefore, to be the right role model for growing cricketers is the biggest service Tendulkar might be doing.

He's hoping that Mumbai Indians will be a bigger draw than any time before because of Tendulkar's presence. Not that it wasn't the case earlier, but this time because Tendulkar will be playing the tournament as a World Cup winner.

"The Indian community has always been such a great fan of this game and I'm hoping they'll flock the stadiums to watch Tendulkar like never before," says Pollock.

Sadly, Pollock is yet to see his national team South Africa lay its hands on the Cup. But, he doesn't feel the Proteas are chokers as labelled. "The media, opposition teams add to the pressure when they keep repeating it. These things make a difference," insists Pollock.

But, with India's victory, he sees a ray of hope for South Africa shedding the chokers tag. "The Indian team also faced enough pressure but they managed to win the trophy and South Africa can do the same," he says.

Pollock is about to find the next 40 days in India interesting because it'll give him a good idea of how the frenzy post the World Cup victory has caught up with the whole country. In the process, he's looking forward to having a great time helping Mumbai Indians win their first IPL trophy, one that is yet to find its way into Tendulkar's growing trophy cabinet.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/Sachin-has-been-an-amazing-role-model-Pollock/articleshow/7890792.cms

We knew we were going to win: Kirsten

Gary Kirsten has called the tough quarterfinal against Australia a tipping point in self-belief in the Indian camp, and that it led to a "sense of destiny" about winning the World Cup. Though no host country had won the World Cup before, Kirsten said he thought there was "never any doubt" about India becoming champions as the knockout stage progressed.

"I felt we were going to do this thing. And to the point the day before the final we knew were going to win," he told ESPNcricinfo on Monday (full interview will be published on Tuesday). "We actually even spoke about it. That we were going to win this thing. It [the issue] is how we prepare to deal with the success because we are going to win. There was never any doubt at that stage."

Kirsten said he was thrilled with the resilience of the Indian team, which managed to win though their opponents were generally viewed to have the edge at the halfway stage of each of the knockout matches. "The one thing what really worked for us in the tournament was that we got ourselves into tough situations in virtually every game," he said. "Even the games against Ireland and the Netherlands were tough. But I believe that really helped us. We were battle-hardened. We had no easy build-up.

"For me the key moment was the Australian game where we chased down 260, which was a tough ask. And from that moment I just got a real sense that within our unit that now we can actually believe that we can win this (World Cup) because we can confront any situation.

"We just believe that we can do anything. It stems from Harbhajan Singh scoring hundreds. It stems from Ishant Sharma batting with [VVS] Laxman to save a game. It stems from Gautam Gambhir batting out a day against South Africa in really tough conditions at Newlands. And then all the one-day efforts from difficult situations."

One man who rescued the team from tight situations in several matches was Yuvraj Singh, who had lost his place in the one-day side last year after struggling with form and fitness, but transformed into a match-winning allrounder in the World Cup.

"Yuvi had a turnaround I would say about six months ago when he got left out of the side in Sri Lanka. From that moment he did a lot of work with Paddy [Upton, the mental conditioning coach]. He made some personal decisions about what he was going to do in preparation for the World Cup: one of them was his fielding, one of them was his fitness.

"He had been through a tough six months, and to end up being the player of the World Cup that is as good a turnaround I have seen in world sport. He just personified the desire and the pride that these individuals have in playing for the country."

Among the people who inspired Yuvraj and the rest of the Indian team in the build-up to the tournament was Mike Horn, a high-altitude climber and Arctic explorer, who returned to help the team in the knockout phase as well. Among Horn's extreme adventure feats are climbing a 8000-metre peak without oxygen, navigating 7000km of the Amazon river besides traversing the Arctic circle without the help of motorised transport.

"The guys were really impressed with Horn's first session, which was during the Kolkata Test against South Africa last year," Kirsten said. "So we got him again during the pre-tournament stage. And again he went down remarkably well with the players, really connected with them, players love him, gave a couple of chat sessions, got involved in the practices.

"We wanted him (again) from the quarters but he said he couldn't make it but he came for the semis. The players were unaware when he entered the room in Mohali. He gave three very really inspirational talks leading into the final. He really just shares his personal experiences about his life and his adventures. He was the X-factor. He was that little bit of extra kick we needed."

Horn may have provided the extra kick, but it was Kirsten's low-profile coaching technique that constructed the base for the team to succeed. Everyone from Sachin Tendulkar to Virender Sehwag have repeatedly spoken of how Kirsten has helped them with their game, and the respect with which the players hold Kirsten was demonstrated when they chaired him around the ground during the victory celebrations at the Wankhede Stadium.

Despite the high esteem in which he is held within the Indian establishment, and the many successes during his three years in charge, Kirsten ruled out continuing to coach the national team and said he hadn't been approached by the BCCI to change his mind. The time away from his young family in South Africa was one of the factors in his decision, and he was yet to decide on what his next job would be.

"There is a lot on the table, you know. South Africa have approached me, and a couple of IPL teams have approached me," he said. One of them is the Mumbai Indians, and the other is a team that he has "forgotten" but for now it seems the only way in which he may remain connected to Indian cricket will be through the IPL.

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http://sports.ndtv.com/world-cup-2011/news/item/171670-we-knew-we-were-going-to-win-kirsten

‘I’ll continue to play ODIs’ - We’ve brought a smile on the face of every Indian: Sachin

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar, The Master, briefly spoke to The Telegraph at the team hotel and, then, took questions from a section of the media at the Raj Bhavan, on Sunday evening.

Such is the craze for Sachin (indeed, everybody wants a piece of him) that he couldn’t leave the hotel, for the reception by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at the first attempt.

Sachin could cross the lobby only after security personnel quickly cleared the area. Not that he wasn’t mobbed at the Raj Bhavan.

The following are excerpts

Feelings on the day after...

It’s an unbelievable feeling, something I haven’t experienced before.

If he slept at all on Saturday night...

Hardly... That we’d won the World Cup still hadn’t sunk in... Rather, I began imagining that another match was coming up. It’s sinking in now

The achievement...

Huge... Huge... There’s nothing bigger than the World Cup and we’ve won it.

Win unifying the country, perhaps, like never before...

It’s great... We’ve brought a smile on the face of every Indian.

Teammates dedicating the win to him...

I’ve been touched... India have won, the team has won... I won’t forget their gesture... I’d dedicate it to the country.

Player of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh naming him as his special one...

(Laughs) I think he had somebody else in mind!

Having been in tears...

Well, I’d waited 21 years to be a World Cup-winner... I cried out of joy.

What made the difference...

Planning, preparation... The team’s self-belief. An environment where everybody knew his role.

Role played by Gary Kirsten, who is no more the coach...

His has been a big contribution. He’ll be missed in the dressing room.

If thoughts of the 2003 final, at the Wanderers, surfaced...

No... Last night was all about positive things... The good memories.

Message for the billion-plus fans...

Enjoy the moment... Savour the win.

Finally, on speculation that he’d quit ODIs...

No, I’ll continue to play them.

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110404/jsp/sports/story_13807019.jsp