'Sachin Tendulkar was unhappy when I became India head coach,' reveals Gary Kirsten

India's World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten has revealed that Sachin Tendulkar was unhappy when the former took over the team's charge in 2007.

Team India hit rock bottom when they suffered a first-round exit at the 50-over World Cup in 2007, following defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. That brought an end to an unpopular era then-head coach Greg Chappell.

During the tournament, Chappell asked Tendulkar bat at No. 4 despite the legendary batter being much more successful as an opener.

In a recent interview, Kirsten even mentioned that after the mega event in West Indies Tendulkar even considered retiring from the sport.

Speaking of the initial days of his coaching stint with India, Kirsten on 'The Final Word cricket podcast' recalled, "The standout for me then was what kind of leadership was then required to take this very talented team and turn it into a world-beating team.

"That was the conundrum for any coach moving into that situation. When I took over there was definitely a lot of scaring in the team. There was a lot of unhappiness and hence for me it was more important to understand each individual."

"Tendulkar was probably a stand out for me because he was deeply unhappy at the time that I joined the team. He felt he had a lot to offer, but he wasn't enjoying his cricket and he was at a time in his career when he felt may be he should retire.

"It was important for me to connect with him and make him feel that he had a massive contribution to make to the team and his contribution was more than what he needed to do," the South African added further.

Tendulkar continued his cricket and eventually fulfilled his dream of winning the World Cup, under Kirsten's coaching, at home in 2011. Under MS Dhoni's captaincy, India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium to bring the cup home after a gap of 28 years.

Kirsten also hailed Dhoni's presence in the team, stating that he was definitely the perfect leader India desperately needed, and that made his job as a head coach a lot more easier gradually.

"Any coach would want a group of players playing for the name on the front of the shorts and not the name on the back of the shirt. India is a tough place with a lot of hype around individual superstars and you often get lost in what your own personal needs are.

"And Dhoni, meanwhile, was standout as a leader as he was so focused on the team doing well he wanted to win trophies and have great success and he was very public about that. And that pulled a lot of other guys into line and quite simply Sachin started enjoying cricket as well," Kirsten concluded.