Why Kirsten's absence is going to hurt South Africa ?

In an announcement that has sent shockwaves throughout the South African cricket community, Gary Kirsten announced that he would be stepping down as the Coach of the South African national team immediately after the Champions Trophy to be held next month. The South African had signed a two-year contract with Cricket South Africa in August 2011 and was given the option of a two-year renewal which was declined owing to family reasons.

Gary Kirsten took charge of the Proteas  post a highly successful tenure with the Indian cricket team of which the highlight was the 2011 ODI World Cup victory.

Being an avid reader and student of leadership, people and ways to get them to achieve their best, Kirsten has been able to instil a winning culture in the South African dressing room, which has propelled the national team to be a force to reckon with across all the formats of the game.

Under his astute guidance, the South Africans have clearly looked a class apart - solid and clinical - raising the bar in all formats. His exceptional interpersonal skills combined with a peculiar behind the scenes approach has paved the way  to some fantastic wins in Tests, ODIs and Twenty-20s .

Though the unassuming former cricketer has been less successful with the limited-over teams, winning 13 of 24 one-day internationals and nine of 18 Twenty20 matches, it is in the test arena where he has truly stamped his authority with an almost near perfect record, taking  the Proteas to the coveted No.1 spot in the test rankings.

South Africa lost only two of 19 Tests under Kirsten, who has led them to series victories against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England, arch-rivals Australia, and Pakistan.

For time immemorial, the South Africans have had the infamous tag of chokers, which has continued to haunt them time and again. However, Kirsten as their coach has managed to instil in his boys some much-needed self-belief and intent to be all-conquering. These proved to be the factors that helped South Africa scale the summit of Test cricket, ODIs and T20s.

From being less of a coach who wants to teach to being more of a quintessential influencer in the team, Kirsten's philosophy of not viewing his players as performance tools but rather human beings with issues with the responsibility of making them tick the best way he can, has in fact been instrumental in Proteas enjoying a consistent successful run at the top.    

While the cricket establishment has been quick in appointing Russell Domingo, Gary Kirsten's assistant as the head coach of the national team with the aim of maintaining continuity in the management team and thus enabling seamless transition from one coach to another, it remains to be seen how fruitful this association is going to be.