The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Greg Chappell always batted for young talent

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Wednesday, Apr 04, 2007
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Greg Chappell always batted for young talent

S. Dinakar

Suresh Raina.

Chennai: Come to think of it, the next two years could be Greg Chappell's most profitable period with Team India.

This is a phase when the younger cricketers would step in for the seniors. And Chappell's strength lies in grooming fresh talent. His technical excellence and the ability to shape a young mind are exemplary.

"If we don't try out youngsters, we would finish with a lost generation," he often says.

"If I have to lay my job on the line for the good of Indian cricket, I would do so," Chappell said not too long ago. He has done just that.

Better players

Chappell is blunt and direct, will not comment behind backs.

It can be said, and not without reason, that Chappell was perhaps wrong in his assessment of Sourav Ganguly's ability. Even here, it can be argued that Ganguly returned a better cricketer, so did Zaheer Khan.

It was evident that a coach, so passionate about youth and transition, would encounter stiff resistance from the seniors.

Contrary to the public perception that Chappell went overboard on the disciplinary front, he allowed the players to have their own evenings although he was totally opposed to the consumption of alcohol.

Clarke's case

Even if he would not say so in as many words, Chappell was pained at the fact that the younger bunch (Suresh Raina & co.) was often in the firing line, while the seniors were left untouched by most.

"Look, Michael Clarke went through a similar phase, and he came back brilliantly. Raina's failure does not mean that we have wasted time on him. We should not give up on our young players so soon" pleaded Chappell one evening in South Africa.

Raina, he feels, is better than what Michael Clarke was at the same age. Chappell thinks the world of Dinesh Karthik's heart and skills. Not many know that he rates Venugopala Rao's captaincy high. Chappell also believes the seniors should make their experience count.

He is the same coach who was at the helm when India clinched a world record 17 straight ODI chases, orchestrated India's first Test series triumph on West Indian soil after 35 years, gave India its first ever Test victory in South Africa. These are major achievements.

Better when flexible

The Chappell-Dravid combine motored along when it was given a free hand by a like-minded selection panel. Looking back, India was a much better outfit when it was a flexible unit, not averse to strategic switches in the line-up to surprise the opposition.

Whether it was right for the Board to opt for a new selection committee so close to the World Cup is open to question. All of a sudden, there was a hue and cry about the `experimentation' in the side. The result: Team India turned predictable.

During the India-West Indies series this home season, Chappell shared several of his views in an extensive interview with The Hindu.

There were only two questions he did not answer. One was a specific question on Sachin Tendulkar.

His reply was, "Sachin's too volatile a subject to speak about now."

The second pertained to the mental toughness of the Indian team. His reply was, "Do you logically think I can answer the question."

In his silence lay the answer.

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