The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : `One-day series loss was a blessing in disguise'

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Wednesday, Jul 05, 2006

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`One-day series loss was a blessing in disguise'

Special Correspondent

Greg Chappell. — FILE PHOTO: Rajeev Bhatt

Kingston: Dressed in white linen and black corduroys, Indian coach Greg Chappell, few minutes from a flight that would take him to the U.S. to spend time with family, sought to emphasise that 50 years of cricket experience had taught him it was all about the grey; nothing black, nothing white, nothing clear cut.

Positive step forward

"It's been a good tour," he said about India's first series win in the Caribbean since 1971, hastening to add, "I don't see a need to exaggerate it more than what it is. It's a positive step forward. It took a lot of hard work, and we were forced to play very good cricket. Well it's historic — and that it has not happened for 35 years makes it bigger. But, let's not read too much into it. It's part of the development process of Rahul Dravid's team becoming one of the best Test teams in the world."

"The major thing is the development of the three young seamers. They have tremendous potential, and all things being equal, have a great future ahead. To have won a series with three young inexperienced fast bowlers says something about them. You need to have fast bowlers to win anywhere — and with the four we have got with Irfan still a young bowler, we have got the variety and the depth needed."

Chappell posited that early success abroad might change the way Generation Next of India's cricketers will approach tours. "Anil (Kumble) — one of the senior players, who has done outstandingly well — said the other morning how he had been coming overseas for 16 years, and this is his first big win. Some of the young boys in the squad have had early success, and hopefully that will change the mind-set towards touring."

The 1-4 loss in the one-dayers — a series India was expected to wallop West Indies in — might seem a distant memory, but the Australian batting legend said it was a "blessing in disguise". How exactly? "We've learnt a lot of good lessons. If we had won it, there's a chance that complacency might have set in before the World Cup.

Alarm bells

"But, we had a few alarm bells go off, and we know we have to address a few issues. This has helped us learn how to bat on low, stopping wickets. We have a tour of Sri Lanka coming up, which will help us further. We hope to get better batting and bowling on lower and slower wickets.

"The development process takes time. It takes longer with some people than others. You've got to be careful not to expect too much early in Tests either. It takes about 20-30 Tests for a player to understand the demands of Test cricket. And these (Yuvraj, Kaif, Dhoni) are guys that haven't a lot of experience playing Test cricket in different conditions. We know what's happening and we are working towards it."

What encouraging signs did he see? "The resilience of the group — to come back after the one-day defeat, and almost winning at Antigua, almost winning at St. Lucia — it could have easily nose-dived after that in the last week of the tour, when you want to get back home. That it went to the end ensured that the lessons were learnt a lot better, and it was sweeter."

A reason for the success has been the synchronicity between coach and captain. "Rahul (Dravid) is awesome because he's always looking to improve," said Chappell. "When he got out, he didn't complain about the wicket; he said he should have been playing forward. "That's a terrific example — you can't get a better example of the determination, the desperation, the technique to play the innings he did. Records will show that he is one of the best anywhere, any time, not just the best Indian. The thing about his captaincy is he's prepared to take the tough decisions — batting first at Antigua, batting first here — they were the best decisions but not the easiest."

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