NEW DELHI, Nov 27: Former South African opening batsman Gary Kirsten will take over as the new Indian coach next week, a top cricket board official said on Tuesday.

Kirsten will join the team on Dec 3, just two weeks before India leave for Australia to play four Tests and a triangular one-day series also featuring Sri Lanka.

“We have decided to appoint Kirsten as the coach. A formal announcement will be made in Kolkata,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Kirsten, 40, was interviewed here on Monday by a coach selection committee comprising among others former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Srinivasan Venkataraghavan.

The left-handed South African opener quit international cricket in 2004 after scoring 7,289 runs in 101 Tests.—AFP