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Chappell's first 100 days in office
G. Viswanath
VALUABLE INPUTS: Coach Greg Chappell analysed the team's performance and sent in his report card.
MUMBAI: : Greg Chappell's first 100 days with the Indian cricket team has been a mixed bag marked by a fair share of controversies probably he's not to be blamed for.
He has dealt with two tours involving four teams and with two captains in Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. Celebrations have been somewhat subdued because the 2-0 victory came against a weak opponent in Zimbabwe.
Chappell who returned from the Zimbabwe on Sunday said it was unfortunate his differences with Ganguly were made public.
"I sent a private and confidential mail to the President of the BCCI. I would have preferred it to remain confidential. The matter will be discussed and dealt with. I think you all get a bit excited about the mail. It is a fairly normal thing happening in cricket. Things change over time. It'll be dealt with sometime in the future.'' said Chappell at the Hyatt Regency.
It is reliably learnt the BCCI did not ask for a report from Chappell (but did ask one from the team manager). But Chappell sent a long e-mail on September 18, making his position clear after the Indian captain told media that he had been asked to step down as captain.
Overall assessment
Offering his overall assessment of the Indian team and the areas he and Ian Frazer has been working on he said: "Through the two tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, we looked at a whole range of issues. Obviously cricket is about batting, bowling and fielding. But there are other issues as well like thinking and reacting to different situations. We have done things differently, I suppose. Fielding is one area that needed quite a lot of work."
On Pathan
Chappell said Irfan Pathan's role model should be Chaminda Vaas. "Irfan is probably not the fastest bowler around. He is swinging the ball well and bowling a good line and length. Vaas is someone who bowls particularly well in the sub-continent, swings the ball, and comes back with the old ball, bats well, and fields well. That's the sort of cricketer we would like Irfan to develop into and he is coming well. He's working on his batting which showed positive signs during the tour, not only in Tests, but also in the one- dayers. At 20 years of age, he has got to think of continuing to improve. Vaas was not as accomplished a player at 20 as he is now. We would hope Irfan develops in that mould.''
He said that the Test series went as well as we could have hoped for. "We wanted to win them well. There were pretty good performances in both the Tests and the one-dayers. Irfan did particularly well in both the Tests and the one-dayers. Gautam Gambhir was very positive in the Test series. In one-dayers, Yuvraj Singh, Md. Kaif, Irfan and Dhoni did well. We are starting to come together and we will keep it going that way.''
Gambhir impressive
Chappell agreed that Gambhir is the conventional opening batsman we have. "He strikes a good combination with Sehwag and is more organised. There was this instance in Bulawayo when Sehwag was tearing the attack apart and raced to 44 but at the same time Gambhir got to 41. He has the ability to hit boundaries. He has the ability to turn the strike over which is very good. He is fielding good as well. His was a pretty impressive performance."
Chappell said Dhoni is a player of immense potential and that India is lucky to have excellent keepers in Kaarthick and Dhoni.
"Kaif is a very good cricketer. He's done well against Australia, a measure of a good cricketer in recent times. I have no doubt he has a future as a Test cricketer. Sachin will be back shortly and that'll add to the experience. We need a dynamic group. We need young boys pushing the old guys along. As far as the level of fitness required in international cricket is the same, whether you are a 30-year-old or a 20-year-old. Basically, there is a minimum standard required for all players.''
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