Gavaskar absolutely right in blaming Chappell
by Partab Ramchand
DateLine: 24th April 2007
As one who has held similar views all along I was extremely pleased to
read Sunil Gavaskar’s recent comments on Greg Chappell. The former
Indian captain has squarely blamed him for the World Cup debacle and
the recent fall in standards. I myself have been crying myself hoarse
for almost a year writing repeatedly in my columns about the damage
that Chappell’s methods have caused to Indian cricket and how his
dictatorial attitude has left a sense of insecurity among the players
who consequently have not been able to perform up to potential. With
virtually the same team the combination of John Wright and Sourav
Ganguly were able to show a much healthier balance sheet over the 4-1/2
years they were in charge while the duo of Chappell and Rahul Dravid
has presided over a series of setbacks culminating in the biggest
disaster of them all – the early exit from the World Cup.
The post mortems done by so called experts said that the reverse was
due to various factors and they needlessly went into a deep analysis
when there was no need to. It was just a result of failure of the
leadership and while Chappell has to take a major share of the blame,
Dravid is not entirely blameless. The less assertive Mr Nice Guy
allowed Chappell to take command when as captain he should have shown
that he was the boss and the buck stopped with him. And anyway I cannot
fathom foreign players finding various causes for India’s defeats
ranging from faults that lie with the Indian domestic circuit to
misadministration at the BCCI level. I hardly see Indian cricketers
commenting adversely on the domestic structure prevalent in South
Africa, West Indies or New Zealand. The point is that with the existing
system Indian cricketers have produced positive results in the period
2000 – 2005. I shall point out only the more significant among these –
a shared Test series in England in 2002, a shared Test series in
Australia in 2003-04, a Test series victory for the first time in
Pakistan in 2004, the NatWest Trophy triumph in England in 2002,
sharing of the Champions Trophy with hosts Sri Lanka the same year,
making the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
Credit should go to Wright and Ganguly for these results for they
wielded the team into a strong unit through adroit handling. The
batting was probably the most lustrous in the world and fully lived up
to its lofty reputation with totals of 705 for seven (against
Australia) and 675 for five (in Pakistan) being registered and Virender
Sehwag becoming the first Indian to top the 300-run mark in Tests. In
the last couple of years there has been a considerable fall in the
playing standards of almost all the Indian players and this is
reflected in the figures. Sehwag was touching 56 at his peak; his
average now is below 50. The same faltering figures are seen against
the names of even Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Harbhajan Singh
who was averaging 27.7 with the ball now has an average approaching 30.
Irfan Pathan who was the pace spearhead of the Indian team and emerging
as the country’s long awaited all rounder is now out of the side
because he has lost confidence – thanks to Chappell’s over
experimentation. This is the point that Gavaskar has driven home while
hitting out at Chappell. "Some of the most promising talent, as
recognized by the ICC Cricket voting panel, has lost its way and nobody
of any note has come through during this period. The batting, which
should have flourished under the guidance of someone recognized as one
of the game's best batsmen, has looked tentative and unsure and has
lost the spark that made India's cricket team such a must-see for
cricket lovers."
And this man who has worked havoc with the Indian team has been praised
among others by BCCI chief Sharad Pawar who has gone so far as to
suggest that he could stay associated with Indian cricket in an
advisory capacity to the National Cricket Academy. Nothing could be
more disastrous and Gavaskar has again hit the nail on the head by
writing: "To give him another job and that too one which deals with
the future of Indian cricket after the mess the present of Indian
cricket has been landed into, makes one wonder if we will ever get out
of the inferior complex syndrome."
Let’s hear Gavaskar one last time. "When Chappell took over as coach
of the Indian team, Indian cricket was poised to take the big step
forward. There was optimism all around and a palpable confidence that
Indian cricket would be ready to challenge Australia for the title of
the best team in the world. Instead, at the end of his tenure, Indian
cricket is down in the dumps with a first-round exit in the World Cup
and is fractured and divided as seldom before." The message is
unambiguous. Chappell should not be associated with Indian cricket in
any capacity anymore.
(Article: Copyright © 2007 CricketArchive)
