Greg Chappell: I won't resign.

[adharcric]

What India should do now is to make Saurav captain,include Laxman,Balaji and Nehra in the team and sack Chappell.As Wright is ready to takethe job,make him the coach.And don't include youngsters into the team unless they are very talented and can cope with the pressure of International cricket

Ganguly will most likely retire by 2008. Laxman will make a pathetic fielding unit even worse. Balaji can't even take domestic wickets right now. Nehra is clocking 130 these days.

 

[honestbharani]

Let me take you back to 2003 world cup.There were no expectations for India.Actually there was no Team India then.It was only Indian team.Yet we played well and we reached the finals losing only to Australia who lifted the cup.That means we were the second best.
Don't forget the aggressive captain Saurav ganguly and the silent assassin John Wright.Were there any media clashes with Chappell.Absolutely Noooooooo.

After the world cup sreenath retired.Laxman became a prominent member of the one day side.Two aggressive young talented fast bowlers,Balaji and Pathan came to the Indian team.That team held Australia for a 1-1 draw in the test series in Australia.What a side that was.That is the best Indian team I've seen so far.

But then Wright resigned.Chappell came.Then Ganguly lost his place.Then it was all about youngsters.Didn't any youngster come when Saurav and Wright were in charge.Yes.Sehwag,Pathan,Balaji,Kaif,Yuvraj,Dhoni.Then many youngsters came during the reign of Chappell(in Malayalam Chappell means to suck).
.Who are they?Sreesanth,Patel,Raina,Karthik,Chawla,RP Singh,VRV Singh.Are these guys eligible for a place in the side.No except for Patel.These excess inclusion of youngsters upset the balance of the side.That is why India lost the world cup.

There is one more guy to blame for.Kiran More,the former chief selector.
What India should do now is to make Saurav captain,include Laxman,Balaji and Nehra in the team and sack Chappell.As Wright is ready to takethe job,make him the coach.And don't include youngsters into the team unless they are very talented and can cope with the pressure of International cricket

Did u even watch India in late 2004 and early 2005? They were pathetic and that was the reason the coach/captain were changed.

 

[pup11]

Now this is also coming out of Chappell's SMS that he has told the journalist that the senior players have a huge ego problem and they don't like to see young players coming through as they are poteintal threat to these senior players.


And mind you this SMS was sent on 17 Feb 07, so all i want to question is if these are the thoughts of a coach about his players before going into a huge tournament like the WC then what can one say.

 

[silentstriker]

He really shouldn't be sending SMS out criticizing the team anyway, regardless of when. If its true, its a stupid thing to do. Regardless, he is completely right.

 

[Smudge]

I find it hard to believe he is sending SMSs to a journalist, outlining claims like this. Perhaps one journo trying to get one up on his brethren.

 

[honestbharani]

players and coaches have had a few confidant journalists over the years. And Rajan Bala was vociferously defending Chappell on TVs this week, so I guess this could be one of those.

 

[pup11]

Yesterday the Indian players came back home and they all came in small groups of 2 to 3 and at different airports due to fear of their angry fans, they somehow managed to reach their homes under strict police security with the media chasing them around.


The real fun begins on April 6 when both Chappell and Dravid would have to come in front of the BCCI and former Indian captains and present their reports and thoughts regarding the WC.

 

[Evermind]

Why would Chappell ever wanna continue in his coaching position? It just boggles my mind. He should just get the hell outta there. He is clearly NOT the main problem.

 

[pup11]

Chappell would want obviously to continue as the Indian coach since he makes a lot of money on that post, he would have made more money from his coaching job than he would have made as a player for Australia.

 

[silentstriker]

Chappell would want obviously to continue as the Indian coach since he makes a lot of money on that post, he would have made more money from his coaching job than he would have made as a player for Australia.

Not really. A coaching position in England, SA, or Australia would probably get him just as much money. In fact, even other coaching position (like head of an academy) would involve a lot less hassle and just as much money. It's not like the BCCI is paying him in the millions.

 

[Khaalis Gumbs]

I think it is a bad idea for Chappell and Dravid to be sacked simply because they have had a hiccup or a whole cough in the West Indies. I think the indian cricket bourd should wait and make their decision later in the year after much thought

 

[honestbharani]

Not really. A coaching position in England, SA, or Australia would probably get him just as much money. In fact, even other coaching position (like head of an academy) would involve a lot less hassle and just as much money. It's not like the BCCI is paying him in the millions.

Exactly.



And another interesting thing I read on the papers today.... This was on the "Indian Express", a daily that is known for being not as sensationalist and biased as some of the (in fact, most of the) other Indian dailies.


The reporter there claims that he had had interviews with Greg Chappell, Rahul Dravid and two of the senior players in the side. He is claiming that India was a divided team even when it left the shores of INdia.

He says that ever since Chappell came in, he has been pushing for youngsters coming through and pushing the seniors in the side. Rahul Dravid, it seems, too was into that theory but was apparently not happy with how Chappell was using the media to get his message across. He felt (and rightly, I personally feel) that it creates a sense of insecurity among the players and is not good for team unity. But the main point is that he did buy into Greg Chappell's theory and was fully in support of it. Hence all the experiments and new guys tried out in different positions during their initial months.


But, as time went on, Rahul was apparently disappointed that the youngsters were not pushing the seniors (including himself) as hard as they (Chappell and Dravid) expected. So he kept telling Greg that the time has come for them to compromise on the fielding and spirit stuff and bring in the seniors. But Greg wasn't into it and it led to some disagreements, although nothing major.


But the key here is Ganguly. Apparently, he is still mad at Chappell for everything he did to him (some right, some wrong, IMHO) and the patch up was just a sham. And once he came back into the side, he had largely kept to himself and hadn't played the support role one would expect a senior player like him to play to Rahul Dravid.


And also, it seems, Sachin, since his comeback, hasn't been received well by Chappell. Greg thought that Sachin wasn't doing enough as a senior pro in trying to win India matches. Basically, he wanted Sachin to bat in the tough spots (4,5 or 6, depending on match situations) and not open. Also, Greg had high hopes of both Gambhir and Uthappa as openers and with the return of Ganguly and continuance of faith in Sehwag, there was really no room for Sachin at his favorite spot. And apparently, Sachin has been very angry at this too, at him being refused a chance to bat at his best spot... And he too has apparently been keeping to himself off the field and not offering the sort of leadership to the side as he had done in the past.


And also, guys like Harbhajan and Zaheer had gotten on the wrong books of Greg very early in his tenure itself, because of their support to Ganguly. And Harbhajan was apparently very disappointed at the "lack of understanding" of Chappell about his style of bowling. And Chappell was exhausted at Sehwag's lack of application.


So, at the end, when India left for the WC, we had a captain Dravid, who was caught between the two extremes and also a man who was very much by himself, since he had no real support forthcoming from either Greg or from Sachin/Sourav, we had a coach who wasn't even seeing eye-to-eye with 4 or 5 of the tea members, we had a couple of seniors who didn't really care too much about the captain or the coach and always were seen being aloof off the field, and youngsters who were pretty much caught between the devil and deep blue sea. It is not a surprise now how a side with as much class as India (at least in batting) came a cropper against a spirited but still not as talented Bangladesh side.



This was the gist of the article and frankly, I think it sounds plausible for the most part. If this is the case, it is obvious that there are wrongs from both sides. If it is upto me, I would get rid of Chappell as the coach (as right as his vision may have been, the way he went about his tasks left a lot to be desired) and also drop/rest the seniors for a series or two. Much better we lose with guys with passion and spirit than win with these guys. Again, their reasons for their anger may / may not be justified but it is no reason to not support your captain during such an important tournament.

 

[viktor]

Is this article in the online version, cos I couldn't find it.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, sounds very plausible, hbh.

A great shame, TBH. IMO the facts of the matter were simple - Ganguly, Tendulkar etc. are far better players than Raina and the like are and quite possibly will ever be. Chappell should have realised this and done his utmost to support them and get them in the side.

I've always said looking too far ahead in cricket is dangerous, very dangerous. Especially in the one-day game where there's always a very, very clear target.

That said, I'm disappointed in Tendulkar if he really did get upset about not being allowed to open. He should be an astute enough reader of the game to realise that his best use to the side was at four IMO. And that's been the case for 5 years, TBH.

 

[silentstriker]

Yea, not sure if its true, but if it was I'm disappointed as well. You should always play for your team, and if the captain/coach wants you to bat at #4, then you bat at #4. You can voice your disagreement in private, but in the end the captain has to do what he has to in order to win and you have to follow that. If you're a class player, like Sachin is, then you need to be able to bat anywhere. If you can't, then you have to re-evaluate whether you should be in the team at all.

But I still maintain the patch-work changes of just captain/coach really won't do anything in the long term. At all. You need bigger changes, and in the BCCI not necessarily in the team.

All these problems are in part symptoms of this nightmare the BCCI is in charge of - from the domestic cricket structure, to how teams are picked and played, what is expected of them at all levels, and things like that. These personality clashes will never go away - they'll just be replaced by new ones with new faces. Unless the whole cricketing culture changes from the ground up, and not just at the very top.

 

[C_C]

Chappell should go. Period.
I don't see any point in sticking with him.
He has zero understanding of the culture and he fails to realize that a lot of what he says about coaching 'looks good on paper' but doesnt work out. Plus he isnt a successful coach and in most sport, a high profile team making a shockingly early exit means the coach is toast. Exceptions to this may be exceptionally good coaches but Greg is clearly not an exceptional coach.
Guy needs to go and someone like Whatmore or Sandeep Patil should be brought in.

 

[honestbharani]

Is this article in the online version, cos I couldn't find it.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/27041.html



That's the link.

 

[honestbharani]

The point here is, guys, this is perhaps why Sunny Gavaskar is mentioning that Indian cricket is caught in a war of egos.


For me, personally, whenever there is an ego problem and the parties involved aren't willing to listen to reason and we have tried long enough, I would always get rid of all of them and bring in fresh people.


So, here, first, I wouldn't renew the contract of Chappell.

Next, I would drop/rest Sachin and Sourav ( at least, and if possible even Rahul, given how stressed he must be right now) for the next series or two. No one is bigger than the game, not even two of the all time great batsmen and an all time great captain (at least for India).

 

[Fusion]

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/27041.html



That's the link.

We've all repeatedly heard/read the allegations in this article. Frankly, I can't see how Chappell can stay as coach of the team. Even if Chappell is right, he's made a mess of things trying to get his vision implemented. He doesn't seem to have the support of the team, in fact he's gone a long way in dividing them. The players apparently don't trust him (and rightfully so if he's leaking comments to the media all the time), and the team atmosphere is poison. In this sort of a climate, Chappell will not succeed. It's easy to say "back the coach and the players should be professional". You have to be practical and understand that a coach relationship with his players is just as important as his actual coaching abilities. I believe Chappell has failed as a coach because he couldn't build relationships and was divisive. It would be better for India to start over. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to make some tough decisions before the new coach comes in. Meaning if Tendulkar or Ganguly (or whoever else) needs to be dropped, then the board should make that decision. Allow the new coach to start off without the controversy and give him a chance to succeed.

 

[Richard]

^^^Yeah, think Fus has summed-up the situation perfectly there.