Is Gary the right choice .. don’t think so …

Former South African opener Gary Kirsten confirmed late on Tuesday night that he had accepted the job of India's new coach.

Speaking to the media , Kirsten said, "I have accepted the offer to coach the Indian cricket team. It is going to be a challenging job for me but I am pretty confident about what I can achieve and I am excited at the prospect of the job. In short, I am all geared for it."

The 40-year-old will be signing a two-year contract starting March 1, 2008 but he will join the team briefly as a consultant during the Australia tour.

"I will be starting from the 1st of March, joining them in the middle of the Australia tour," said Kirsten, who has played 101 Tests, scoring 7289 runs, while playing 185 ODIs, scoring 6798 runs.

Kirsten had earlier said to CNN-IBN that accepting the job was going to be a formality to him, and that he would not be able to join in time for the Australia tour.

He had been quoted earlier in the day as saying that he wanted more clarity from the BCCI after hearing rumours that senior players were concerned about his appointment.

"I have no concerns about the senior players," clarified Kirsten, after he accepted the offer.

When he was asked about Greg Chappell's coaching tenure in India, he responded by saying, "I am not aware as to what happened in the Greg Chappell era. We have got a great team which is performing well and the old players should continue to pass on to young players."