Looking at India's 5 previous coaches and rummaging through their tenures

#4 Gary Kirsten (2007-2011)

Gary Kirsten formed tremendous bonds with players

After the nightmarish experience against Greg Chappell, India found a gem in South African Gary Kirsten.

His first official assignment was against his home country South Africa. The series ended in a stalemate but a precedent had been set. India did brilliantly in Test matches during his tenure. They beat Australia at home to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

The purple patch continued as India won its first bilateral series win in Sri Lanka. Also, India won the One-Day International and Test series against New Zealand after 40 years. India became the number 1 Test Matches.

However, the biggest and most important moment in his coaching tenure was when India won the World Cup in 2011. The sight of him being lifted by the players all around the Wankhede Surface will always be etched in memories.

No wonder the players and the general public were gutted when Kirsten decided not to renew his contract because of his family obligations after the 2011 World Cup.

MS Dhoni hailed him as the best thing to happen to Indian cricket.