Centurion, Jan 23: India coach and former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten has much to be happy about. The Indians have shattered some myths about their below-par overseas abilities and put up a top-notch show against a formidable Proteas side. Coach Kirsten took some time out to discuss the performance of the Indian team on the South Africa tour and their plans before the World Cup in a pre-match interaction with the media.

Excerpts from the interview

On the Indian team’s performance in South Africa

I’m happy with the way things have gone really. A couple of Indian players have really shown their mettle. They came here knowing it’s going to be a tough tour physically and then stepped up to play and so [I’m] very happy. Obviously it would be nice if we pulled off a positive result today but [I’m] very happy with the way the guys have gone about their business.

On the current Indian team’s ability to bounce back

Absolutely. It was interesting, in the first Test we battled a little bit especially on the batting side and the first ODI [it was] the same story. So we are obviously happy that the guys came back and learnt quickly in terms of what they wanted to do. But as we’ve known [about] South African conditions, a lot of the time it’s about your mental state, knowing where the ball’s going to be bouncing, bouncing at a different height than what you are used to at the sub-continent and getting into the line a little bit more. Most of the batsmen have done that pretty well.

On going into the World Cup knowing the team can do it even without the Big Three - Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir

I think the guys have played some good cricket over a long period of time now. We have [executed] a 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand in India which is what we are happy about. Most importantly, some young players have come through and are showing mettle and showing that they want to be in that World Cup squad. As we know, the competition for places is crucial to any team. So I think I am very happy with the squad now and everyone’s performance.

On the plans leading up to the World Cup

We are going to give the guys some time off - they have been playing a lot of cricket. We have been going on since September last year so it’s important that they have some time off to freshen up mentally. We’re going to get going three or four days before our first warm-up game I think, on the 8th or 9th of February, and begin a 10 day lead-up to the first game. Everyone’s pretty motivated for the World Cup. I think everyone’s hoping that they can keep injuries at bay at this stage and look forward to the World Cup. It will be a big event for a lot of these guys and for many of them, their last World Cup.