Background and career
Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who played as a left-handed batter. He has served as the head coach of Sri Lanka since 2026.
Kirsten played 101 Test and 185 One Day International (ODI) matches for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batter. As of June 2026, he is South Africa's fifth-highest all time run-scorer in Tests. He was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy. In domestic cricket, Kirsten represented Western Province between 1987 and 2004.
Following his retirement as a player, he served as the head coach of several national teams, including India from 2008 to 2011, that won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, South Africa from 2011 to 2013, and Pakistan in 2024. Kirsten also served as the head coach of Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL) from 2017 to 2018, as well as the head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2019.
