Greg Chappell’s appointment as Indian team coach came in with huge expectations, considering his reputation as great thinkers of the modern game. However, his promise of ‘Commitment to excellence’ was unfazed by the challenges.
Chappell stressed attitude and commitment from the players. He had a logical reasoning behind grooming youngsters, as their good performances will build pressure and push the seniors to deliver. He reacted quickly when Indian pace attack failed miserably in the Karachi test match which India lost. He made sure that Zaheer and Pathan are out of the team and brought in fresher like Sreesanth and Munaf, the Australian way. These two lead the Indian attack in its tour of West Indies with unlimited success, with India winning the series 1-0. His spat with former India skipper Sourav was a familiar one, having said that, Chappell was the first to shake hands with Ganguly when he rejoined the Indian team at Potchefstroom before the tour match.
Chappell was instrumental in bringing youngsters in the team providing them with various challenges. Things fell in place for the Indian team as they kept winning series after series in the home turf. The so called experiments were carried out as the oppositions were clueless and they deteriorated to the Indian game plan. It looked like the captain and the coach had good understanding of the game and the needs of the team. As the experiments clicked one after another, India went to a high of winning 17 ODIs chasing on a trot. At this point, one thought India is one of the strongest contenders of cricket’s showpiece event.
Here came the first jolt with BCCI annual meeting, which brought up a change in the national selection panel. Kiran More, the man who favoured fresh blood in the team, who nodded head to Chappell’s wishes was succeeded by ‘the Colonel’ Dilip Vengsarkar. The change in the selection panel with just four months away from the world cup left the Indian think-thank shaken.
Adding woes to the selection problem was the dent in Pathan’s form as it disturbed the team’s composition. The team management continued with their experiments to try and fill someone in Pathan’s role ended with no success. This had a great impact in team’s success as they faced defeats after defeats. The poor results had a huge impact, disturbing the mind set of many players, the most affected being Sehwag.
Chappell stressed attitude and commitment from the players. He had a logical reasoning behind grooming youngsters, as their good performances will build pressure and push the seniors to deliver. He reacted quickly when Indian pace attack failed miserably in the Karachi test match which India lost. He made sure that Zaheer and Pathan are out of the team and brought in fresher like Sreesanth and Munaf, the Australian way. These two lead the Indian attack in its tour of West Indies with unlimited success, with India winning the series 1-0. His spat with former India skipper Sourav was a familiar one, having said that, Chappell was the first to shake hands with Ganguly when he rejoined the Indian team at Potchefstroom before the tour match.
Chappell was instrumental in bringing youngsters in the team providing them with various challenges. Things fell in place for the Indian team as they kept winning series after series in the home turf. The so called experiments were carried out as the oppositions were clueless and they deteriorated to the Indian game plan. It looked like the captain and the coach had good understanding of the game and the needs of the team. As the experiments clicked one after another, India went to a high of winning 17 ODIs chasing on a trot. At this point, one thought India is one of the strongest contenders of cricket’s showpiece event.
Here came the first jolt with BCCI annual meeting, which brought up a change in the national selection panel. Kiran More, the man who favoured fresh blood in the team, who nodded head to Chappell’s wishes was succeeded by ‘the Colonel’ Dilip Vengsarkar. The change in the selection panel with just four months away from the world cup left the Indian think-thank shaken.
Adding woes to the selection problem was the dent in Pathan’s form as it disturbed the team’s composition. The team management continued with their experiments to try and fill someone in Pathan’s role ended with no success. This had a great impact in team’s success as they faced defeats after defeats. The poor results had a huge impact, disturbing the mind set of many players, the most affected being Sehwag.
The whole scenario looked improbable with no answers to the problems in hand; the management went back to their old warriors in Ganguly, Zaheer and Kumble. This move did not appeared in favour of the Australian, as he made it clear that he was unhappy with the team. The differences in approach and thinking amplified the gap between the seniors and the coach. The problem is Greg being vastly experienced and rated as one of the greatest thinkers of the game handling someone like Sachin Tendulkar who is nearing two decades of international experience with more than 70 international hundreds to his credit. It’s not only with Sachin, but Sourav, Dravid and Kumble. Each having vast experience of their own, they would think and like to do what they feel is right. Here is where the seniors and Chappell contradicted each other.
The situation was like tug-of-war where two teams at each end of the rope trying to pull each other. The team that crosses the mid-point looses. But unfortunately for Indian cricket, the rope was cut down in the middle as the coach and the seniors never went hand in hand.
The situation was like tug-of-war where two teams at each end of the rope trying to pull each other. The team that crosses the mid-point looses. But unfortunately for Indian cricket, the rope was cut down in the middle as the coach and the seniors never went hand in hand.
