A privilege to work with one of the best leaders: Former India coach Gary Kirsten on Dhoni
New Delhi: Their stint together yielded India the 2011 World Cup trophy and former India coach Gary Kirsten on Monday doffed his hat to the enigmatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, calling him "one of the best leaders" he has worked with.
Dhoni, the only captain to have won all the ICC trophies, retired from international cricket on Saturday, more than a year after he last played for India -- the lost World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.
The 52-year-old Kirsten, who was head coach of the Indian team between 2008 to 2011, thanked Dhoni for all the good memories that he made during his tenure.
"A privilege to work with one of the best leaders I have come across. Thanks, MS for many fond memories with the Indian Cricket Team @msdhoni," the former South African batsman wrote on his twitter handle.
Under Kirsten, India had claimed the Asia Cup in 2010 before ending a 28-year long wait to win their second World Cup crown in 2011.
Kirsten built a strong relationship with Dhoni during the time and on Monday, he revisited a past statement, which described their bond aptly.
"I would go to war with Dhoni by my side."
Dhoni's retirement has triggered an avalanche of emotional tributes with several past and current cricketers expressing their admiration for his unorthodox leadership, brilliant finishing skills and sharpness behind the stumps.
The man himself, only issued a brief "consider me retired" post on instagram to announce the big decision and has not spoken after that.
He will, however, be seen in action during the IPL starting September 19 in the UAE.
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Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to stay in India as long as she wants: Mani Shankar Aiyar
Kolkata, Jan 12: Former career diplomat, ex-union minister and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that deposed Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to stay in India as long as she wants.
Expressing happiness that Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri went to Dhaka last month and held discussions with the authorities there, Aiyar told PTI on the sidelines of the 16th Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival that the talks should be continuous and New Delhi needs to establish ministerial contacts with the interim government of Bangladesh.
About demands by Bangladesh to extradite Hasina, he said, "I hope we will never disagree that Sheikh Hasina has done a lot of good for us. I am glad she was given refuge. I think we should be her host as long as she wants, even if it is for all her life."
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her 16-year regime.
The Congress leader said that it is true that minority Hindus in Bangladesh are being attacked, but mostly it is because they are supporters of Hasina.
“They (reports about attacks on Hindus) are true but exaggerated because many of the conflicts are more about settlement of political differences," he said on Saturday.
Earlier during a question hour session, Aiyar said that Pakistanis are much like Indians, but only the accident of partition made them a different country.
“There exists much more difference in me as a Tamil and my wife as a Punjabi, than between her and a Pakistani Punjabi,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the Narendra Modi regime, the Congress leader claimed, “We have the courage to undertake surgical strike but this government does not have the courage to sit across the table with them."
Pakistan is a country which "spreads terror but it is also a victim of terror', Aiyar said.
"They (Pakistan) thought they could bring Taliban to power in Afghanistan, (but) today their single biggest threat is the Taliban in Afghanistan," he said.
In a compliment to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Aiyar said his single biggest achievement was to ensure that India talked to Pakistan on the back channel on what Gen Musharraf called the four-point agreement on Kashmir.
Singh also showed that it is possible to talk business with a military government, he said.
"It is suicidal for us to continue wearing Pakistan around our neck like the albatross. We should just talk to them as Manmohan Singh showed on the issue of Kashmir,” he said.
Aiyar took part in a discussion on his recent book where he touched on issues like his relation with the Gandhi family, his tryst with the Congress party, his stint in the days at Cambridge and his commentary on the present situation in the country.
