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Mumbai: India's new coach Gary Kirsten is in favour of the glamour and cash offered by the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) although he wants his players to be focused on Test cricket.
"It (IPL) is having a huge impact as we have seen," Kirsten told reporters after a meeting with Indian board's officials along with Test captain Anil Kumble yesterday. "(But) I would like to still see Test cricket as the No 1 priority."
South African Kirsten, 40, officially takes over as national team coach on March 1 on a two-year contract, succeeding Australian Greg Chappell who resigned from the post last March after the team's first-round exit in the 50-over World Cup.
"India have 15 Test matches in the next year by the looks of the schedule," said Kirsten, who played over 100 Tests and one-day internationals for his country in the 1990s.
"Certainly, there seems to be a similar thinking that we'd like to be right up there in terms of a Test side," he said.
A young team led by one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni emerged as surprise winners of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in September that led cricket-crazy India to embrace the newest format of the game with enthusiasm.
The IPL, featuring many of the world's top players, starts on April 18 with six-figure pay cheques for 44 days of action.
"It's a new form of the game that's generating huge amounts of interest, and there is a lot of money involved (in the IPL) and the players are getting remunerated much better than we were in the 90s. They will be happy with that."
Kirsten spent a few weeks with the team during the recent test series in Australia, where India lost a controversial four-match series 2-1.
His first full challenge as coach comes against his homeland when South Africa tour India for three Tests starting next month.
"My motivation is to make the Indian team a highly competitive unit that is very consistent and that can compete for the No 1 position," he said.
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