The Punch and Judy show is a puppet play that's been a traditional entertainment in English seaside towns since the seventeenth century. It features a hunchbacked brute called Punch who amuses his audience of little children by beating his wife Judy with a stick, trying to murder their baby and generally behaving in a grotesquely criminal fashion. The puppet master is called the Professor.

In Chappell's new rendering of the show, Punch represents the BCCI, racist Indian fans and scheming Indian players. Judy represents the nurturing Chappell, and the Baby is Indian cricket. Judy does everything she can to raise the baby right but Punch doesn't let her. He hits everyone with his stick and his audience instead of being horrified is amused, in keeping with the child-like, amoral nature of oriental spectators.

This would be an amusing play but Chappell keeps changing the script. A day after the newspapers filed stories on Chappell's racist ordeal, the BCCI rubbished the reports, saying that it had done everything necessary to upgrade Chappell's security and categorically denying Chappell's claim that he had been the victim of a racist assault. You would expect the Board to say that, only in this case, Chappell seemed to agree.

"It's old news," he told the Indian television channel CNN-IBN. "It was a very emotional time when I made these remarks. It's a long way back and I'd like to talk about other things now."

This is more than a little odd. Chappell seemed happy enough to let the documentary be completed without comment or correction and a charge of assault aggravated by racism is a serious one. The documentary is called 'Guru Greg' and gives us Chappell's take on his time in India. The 'racist' assault happened in January so Chappell's had plenty of time to ask its producers to work in any second thoughts he had into the narrative of the film. So why would he let the allegation of racism stand in the film only to pass it off as an emotional outburst later?

The answer as supplied by Chappell himself, seems to have to do with business. Chappell has just accepted a three year contract with the Rajasthan cricket board to take charge of the state's cricket academy. So he wants to move on. It's hard to know what to make of this. Is Chappell asking us to accept that he had a hissy fit then and cried 'racism' when it wasn't? Or is he saying that it was racism and what he said in the film stands, but his current contractual commitments make it inconvenient for him to repeat the charge, given that Lalit Modi of the Rajasthan cricket board is also a grandee in the BCCI? Neither explanation flatters Chappell. The first makes him seem neurotic, the second suggests a cynic playing two different markets with alternative versions of the 'truth'.

Or maybe Chappell doesn't know what he means. Perhaps his Punch and Judy show, like the traditional seaside entertainment, is meant to play as farce. And perhaps Greg isn't Judy. Perhaps he's Punch, flailing about with his stick not because there's a reason but because that's what he does.

Maybe its that time of the year when the ex-coaches cry about their ordeals during their tenure.

Brilliant Mukul! Chappell is a buisnessman first and a sportsman later. This is an obscene truth but truth however ghastly remains true . This man is out to milk the Indian Cricket establishment and gets away by talking rubbish. I wonder why the BCCI with all the money in their coffers does not think of a law suit against this geriatric old crank ? Chappell should be shown the door by the Rajasthan cricket board,not due to his comments but due to the perils of keeping a lunatic in the establishment.

To sum up, the story so far: 1. Greg Chappell was handed a team that were contenders for the 2007 World Cup. 2. He got into a row with the Captain and ensured his head rolled. 3. He emotionally blackmailed and mentally disintegrated the entire team he was put in charge of. 4. Failed miserably in achieving his brief: to win the World Cup. 5. Whined out of his responsibilities.Now he claims to be a victim of racial abuse???!!! It is clear he is an instrument of the Australian policy of mental disintegration of opponents. He is their mole in India. He has destroyed our cricket team and now gotten into slandering our country??? How logical is all this?Send him packing... and never let another Australian anywhere near our cricket team.

We all know who he is, please do not print his picture. Just the first name is enough to evoke revulsion.

Good article. Why dont people realise that Greg Chappell was a grand failure as a coach and a trouble brewer as well? What good can he be for a state cricket board? He is out to make himself as much money as possible. He is a mercenary like the Blackwater people in the US. He doesn't care how much harm he is doing.

This is outrageous. I just cannot believe that a State Cricket Association will let this man on its premise. Are there no coaches left anywhere. He well established by his record that he was an utter failure as a Coach. Why would anyone go near a failure? Why?

Its getting a bit boring to hear about Mr. Chappell's woes while he was the Coach of the Indian team. He seems to fault everything Indian but insists on picking up a job with Rajastan...if these are not double standards and hypocrisy then what is! Its about time the Indian media ignored this man completely as cricket lovers have had just about enough of him.

I am no fan of Greg Chappell's and I do not know what to make of his claims. He certainly cares more for himself and his wallet than anyone else.

However, this incident isn't much different to the treatment Australians have received over many years, whereby any negative incident is automatically decried as racism by the sub continent. The message by Jaidev Gaitonde sums it up ... if he is offended by Chappell supposedly slandering his country, how do you think Australians feel about the continuous stream of anti-Australian propaganda that emanates from the mouths of people like Gavaskar and Ranatunga?

The shoe is on the other foot, and I hope now many people on the sub contintent can understand how hurtful and offensive frivolous racism claims can be.

Your writings represent all that is so odious about Indian cricket journalist : a lack of perspective,humour and balance. Ditto many of the readers of such material.

Excellent Mukul. Absolute top drawer writing. I wonder what those Bangalore corporates would be thinking now, who got Chappell (during his 2 year stay) to give discourses/talks/lectures on management! Probably, Mr. Sridhar Jayanath here was one of those sitting in the audience soaking in his words of wisdom!!!

Spot on again Mukul!! Kudos!!

Why waste time on what the Great Failed White Hope of Indian cricket has to say ? There is no doubt that Indians are not role models of sensitive behaviour when it comes to racism, but to suggest that this was a racist attack is quite amusing. By the same token, was the finger that Greg Chappell displayed at Calcutta, an example of racist behaviour and not sheer pique ? For people who have expressed other opinions on the characteristics of Indian journos and readers, two points to ponder :

- is it a coincidence that such stories are coming out now, just before the visit by India, and is perhaps a part of the usual Aussie media campaign to put pressure on any visiting team

- the report also talked of Tendulkar's selfishness and also on the "indian / oriental" cultural characteristic that apparently Ganguly displayed in thinking that Greg would be in his debt for Ganguly supporting him as a coach.

After such broad strokes on Indian culture and cricket with hues of orientalism, should he give up his role as a coach in the Rajasthan Academy and try for a professorial post in cross cultural communications in an Indian university ? At least Mukul would have some competition then in a reverse trend of a cricketer becoming an academic. Mukul : connect Greg to Ashis Nandy. That would be best and we can let him rest in peace.

Now, now, why is it that sub-continent cries foul, when chappell brings up the issue of racism? After all, sub -continent players like gavaskar, ranatunga are quick to call any match refree or umpiring decision against the sub-continent teams as racist. Why dont the sub-continent fans cry foul even than? The answer is clear : racism is an issue which can only be subjected on the sub-continent population and not the other way around. And this holier than thou attitude is very clear in Mr. Kesavan's supposedly "sattirical" article as well. And its surprising, considering certain countries in the sub-continent have been practising racism under the garb of "casteism" for thousands of years and still try to sweep the issue under the carpet by saying "if its a westerner who cries foul, then its crap", even though they are masters of the art of practising instutionalised racism. And by the way after 2003, India were constantly loosing cricket matches and in the last year of Mr. wright's tenure thay hardly won anything...and was it not the indian board who selected chappell as the coach of the indian team...so why cry, when poor attitude and fitness of the players resulted in india getting knocked out of the 2007 WC in the west indies. And if people know hoe to look at numbers, they would see that under chappell India had a better win %age compared to the ganguly and wright era.

There comes a time when sometimes as an audience, you get attuned with the performer’s wavelength. The same happened with me, when I was reading your article. I think this should down as one of your best written articles. I truly enjoyed reading it. Truly marvelous.

About the subject, well here’s what I think:

Imagine the following:

The World Cup Vision: The Experience of Coaching India
By Greg Chappel

Foot note: Former India Coach reveals everything.

We heard it Mr.Chappel, and so did the publishers around the globe. Soon someone will be knocking your door with a blank cheque for the book's right. John Wright did it, what is stopping you?

Mukul should we have a term in the coach's contract wherein they are refrained from writing a book, giving inflammatory interviews or casting themselves in documentaries regarding the team they once coached? Is BCCI reading this?

After reading this. my respect for Duncan Fletcher has rocketed upwards. He stuck to his guns, if he was bitter, he continued to be bitter about it while blogosphere debated the reasons for it. He hit out fiercely at the cricketers and the system, got his fair share of criticism. At least he turned a sorry bunch of no hopers into an Australia beating unit (what is it with Zimbabweans beating Australia these days?).

Chappell, on the other hand,prefers to bite the hand that feeds him, and then lick it when he feels more food coming his way.

Its quite funny to hear the national of a country that had an official white's only policy for the better part of their history, who have had all of one aboriginal representative in their national team in 140 years of existence, complain about racism after being assaulted by an Indian. Doesn't the fact that he was offered the job of India coach over Indian candidates make him the beneficiary of the same kind of racism? Or is Chappell talking about some Orwellian kind of racism there are some good nd bad kinds of racism?

Great stuff Mukul!! And also excellent comments from the readers. We, meaning Lalit Modi and the RCA should be wary of dealing with Chappell. Sure he may have things to offer for Indian cricket, but keep him on a tight rein, like the bcci are doing with loose canons like our own Vengsarkar. And at any sign of trouble terminate his contract. Chapell's statement that he was subject to violence due to racism, is itself a racist remark. Anyway I dont buy into this racism crap anyway. In cricket the aggro is against the other team, to pressure them or psyche them to get an advantage on the field. The Symonds issue was also because he was doing so well, and not many Indians knew he was of West Indian origin.

Typical insular Indian cricketing racism. While Indian cricket, in its’ crowds, nurtures the vilest racist scum on earth, they are all too quick to shriek racism the minute anyone looks askance at them. Shame! And, to the poster above who accused Chapple of being a businessman first and a cricketer second - who more than Indian cricket has sold the game out for the sake of a few lousy bucks?

This is the mentality which will forever keep India in cricket's second division.

Greg was the biggest mistake of Indian cricket history. He showed how a reasonably good team can be destroyed. How many so called new players were not there in the WC07 team and are in the current team? Not many really. But the current team is doing fine. That is because they are free from playing under Greg. Guru Greg created psychological complications in his own mind, remained stubborn and aloof and when WC disaster happened he blamed that his ideas were not implemented. The fact is that the attacker on Greg was personally motivated and not racially (other wise he could have attacked one of the white mens in the support stuff).
I earlier used to think he could be useful in training 15 yeard olds, but now I feel he could be a disaster for them as well. Guru Greg like Muni Durvasha (people aware of Indian mythology will understand the comparison) cann't do anything good. They can only turn gold to coal and not the other way round. God save Indian cricket from the curse called "Guru Greg".

Forget all the rhetoric.I pose a simple question.Simply because an enraged (and obviously mentally unbalanced) fan assaulted Chappell and not an Indian player,what makes it a racial attack? Im not in anyway condoning the attack or the attacker.What if the Indian coach at the time had been a local boy? Have Indian players not had to face the moronic fan treatment meted out to them following world cup defeats?The garlands of slippers,effigy burning and stone throwing? How does a violent act,simply because it was perpetrated against Chappell,however deplorable it might have been,qualify as racist? If anything needs to be examined here its the thoroughly ridiculous attitude of a section of india's cricket fans to victory and defeat.

The article made interesting reading. The comments, equally so.
Some facts:
1. The vast majority of Indian fans are not racist...neither are the Australians.
2. The Indian Cricket Board is nowhere near as efficient and effective as the Australian Cricket Board.
3. The success of the Indian Cricket Team is a not because of the system that supports it but in spite of it.
4. It is the system that brought in Mr. Greg Chappel to assist our team. The results achieved are well documented.
5. The Indian public at large respects the verbal capability and thought process of Mr. Greg Chappel. We have even named an item of footwear in his honour. We call it the "FLIP FLOP".

Dravid - a third rate politician....can you please substantiate? Why do you want to drag Dravid into this one? It was Greg and Saurav who played politics; and poor Dravid was never allowed to settle in as captain. If he was a politician, he would not have persisted with both Sehwag and Sachin when they had their worst runs in cricket. Even when Kaif was doing very badly, Dravid wanted Kaif on the Windies tour. In fact, my surmise is that Dravid did not play politics, hence he has been victimized by the system - be it Greg, Saurav, the selectors, BCCI and now potentially Dhoni...

I am a great admirer of Greg as a player.I was pretty sure that he was going to instill aussie arrogance & mental toughness into indian cricket.Instead players morale were shatterd under his tenure.Failure in WC and making headlines for wrong reasons should have made BCCI think before they offered an extension in his contract.I still couldnt understand why he offered an extension at all.
On the other hand if he feels indian fans are racist who should he still stick around instead of leaving.

First the attacker was deranged and he could have a myraid of loony reasons for attacking Chappell, including, but highly unlikely, racism. Second Chappell himself comes off as a detestable person, and so attacks on him could entirely be deemed individual in nature unrelated to race. And after this incident his security was beefed up, and the attacker reprimanded, so what in Vishnu's name is he complaining about? Cover up??? What cover up, everybody knows of this incident, it was well highlighted in the media, including Chappell's own, the Australian media. Chappell, like most other Australians, seem to live in an imaginary world where any Australian visitor to India is facing palpable risk to his life and limbs. Laughable!

First of all I find a new definition of this English word Raccist. What I known before was "Discriminatory especially on the basis of race or religion". But now I know that, if a person of different race attacked or said something offendable to another person of another race for any reason(not necessary related to his race), will be termed as Racist.
I don't know why Mr. Lalit Modi brings back Greg to India again. It seems Lait modi wants a true Businessman and politician, rather a cricketer, who have some respect for Indian values.

What can you expect from a person who has no sense of what he is speaking. Chappell may have been a very good batsman in his heydays. But he is just that -- a very good batsman. He comes out as a person who has got a one track mind. An olden day martinet cloaked in the garb of a cricketing guru. What he needs to know is that one man's moment of madness cannot be equated with racism.May better sense prevail on the likes of Chappell.

Maybe the reason India didn't win the world cup is that they don't have enough good players. This foolishness about coaches making the difference to international teams is out of control. Indian cricket fans and commentators would be better served concentrating on the players' performances. A couple of decent bowlers wouldn't go astray if they want to win abroad. In short, look ahead not back and stop picking players on their reputation rather than what they can do in the future.

It is clear from the tone of the article and majority of responses that Indians have deep seated problems with Chappell in particular and Australians in general. Clearly racism exists on a wide scale level, perhaps even more so than in Australia, both towards westerners and also internally (caste system). The BCCI coverup of the Symonds affair clearly demonstrates the inheresnt racism within even that organisation. Australia should boycott India

When Greg Chappell became the coach of the Indian team, he brought a vision with him. That vision involved creating a team of youngsters; players who were eager to learn and experiment; players uncluttered with their own importance; fit and athletic players who ran well and fielded better; players who played for each other rather than for themselves; players that were multi-dimensional. That was what would win them the World Cup, he said, and people sneered at his ignorance of preferring the Rainas and Sreesanths to the Gangulys and Zaheers.

Worse still, he lost no time in taking out the Gangulys and the Zaheers from the team equation itself. He found himself none too impressed with the Tendulkars. He tried to persuade the nation to accept his vision; a nation that was more obsessed with whether Tendulkar got his 40th ton than whether or not India won its next match; a nation that wanted their 'Dada' to be in the team even if every bowler, including domestic ones, were queuing up to take a shot at him. Simply put, the nation thought Indian cricket had been handed over to wrong - even dangerous - hands.

The usual Indian politics followed that has kept our nation back for so long in cricket and other fields, and India went into the World Cup of 2007 with what the nation wanted, rather than what the man hired to chalk out the World Cup strategy wanted. The result was a first-round exit.

Some six months later, a new team is formed for what is the latest form of cricket - a slam-bang format known as Twenty20. The big 3 decide (???) to make themselves unavailable for the format, the team gets a huge dose of unknown, untested "fresh blood" cricketers; multi-dimensional, fit and athletic (most of them), who run well and field better, non-celebrities (most of them), a team eager to prove themselves, led by another of those younger breed of players uncluttered with his own importance. The result - India wins the Twenty20 World Cup, beating teams they looked nowhere near matching six months ago.

It is not about winning the Twenty20 cup. It is about the attitude, the fearlessness, the team work, the work ethic that Chappell spoke about, which seemed to be in abundance in the Twenty20 winning team.

Could this team have won the 50-50 World Cup, 2007? Maybe, maybe not! Even this team could have lost in any of those tightly contested matches against England, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan in the just-concluded Twenty20 cup. It is not about that! It is the nation showering accolades on the players who fit the vision Chappell had for Indian cricket, except that when Chappell was here, the same nation was busy putting obstacles everywhere. Our egos wouldn't let a white man win against our heroes, our Gangulys and our Tendulkars; when they "opted" out themselves, it was ok.

Chappell would be having a hearty laugh.

Great stuff! Let's have more of the same when it comes to English and Australian cricketers, coaches and mediamen who sing one tune in India and another, quite different one back home when they write books or give interviews, spicing it all up to please their superior white audiences. As for Greg Chappell, he seems to have lost it entirely. Here's a coach whom all India supported when he made all those daring moves to resuscitate Indian cricket, but has gradually managed to tie himself in knots and lose all the respect he earned.

Excellent! Greg Chappell, the plain trith of the matter is likes to be in the news. So this current issue, if you could call it that. After having taken Indian cricket to the depths, he is back in India, the bad racist country, to make a living. Poor guy, can't find a job anywhere. I hope the powers that be in the Rajasthan Cricket Assn. realise this man can do more harm than good before its too late.

It is strange that the people screaming racism loudest these days are the australians. First Hair, his "legal case" was not strong enough to survive the courts. Then Chapell who called a deranged attack a racist attack. Aussies seem to be in me too mode when it comes to screaming racism at the subcontinent. Attack is the best form of defense for the Aussies [no matter how laughable]. Oh Yes and they also seem to be experts in making one line statements about the caste system in India. In context I think some Aussies can spin a story in whatever way they like about India, but the truth only sticks out and makes these individuals appear whingey and immature.

Greg Chappell went to India with new ideas, and a new way to apporach the game. He was not supported at all by the BCCI and consequently, the Indian team suffered. His idea of culling some of the older players was ignored and the requests for young blood were also completely. ignored. The results stand for themselves, India had a horrific World Cup and seemed to make no progress during Chappell´s tenure. The only people to blame are the ridiculous BCCI and of course, the players. Unless of course you´re Indian and then, it´s all Mr. Chappell´s fault. Wake up India!!

There seem to be a design in everything Australians do-their media,players, administrators and politicians. Remember Symonds made comments that he was racially abused. This came immediately after he abused quite a lot of our players. In India cricket is like religion. Crowds will not take kindly if they abuse and use faul language to our cricketers. Immediately media back home picked on the story about racial abuse. Why administrators and media or politicians do not talk about Aussie players who are abusive and conveniently find fault with opposition all the time. The point Sunil Gavasker has been making for a long time is never picked up by poor Indian media. Greg Chappel is no different. They are all working together to maintain Australian team at the top -by good training, media support and hinding their abusive behaviours.

Do you find yourself wondering why no Indian wants to coach the national team? Or why they had to ask 3 or 4 guys to be captain before they found someone to take the job? It's because the Indian public want scapegoats when their team doesn't perform. 9 times out of 10 it's the coach or captain who have their effigy burnt. You've got 2 or 3 great batsmen (Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman), 1 great bowler (Kumble) & a pretty good keeper (Dhoni)....but your overall team is poor and, from an outsiders perspective, your players lack heart & committment. The best thing that ever happened to Ganguly was being dropped. He needed a kick up the backside. Who cares what Greg Chappell says about getting punched? I find it strange that so many of the people responding to this article draw a line between Greg Chappell and "all australians". Stop being so childish. Shut up and support your team. You never saw an Australian supporter burning an effigy of Ricky Ponting when Australia lost the Ashes in 2005. We'd rather get behind our team and urge them to display the class we know they possess, next time around. Of course, I'm Australian, so just by having an opinion I must be racist in the eyes of the majority of people who have responded to this article so far. See if I care, wallow in self-pity....we'll settle for watching our team win everything.

Mukul, you are so wrong. Of course Greg was punched because he was the only white guy. He has every right to point out that it was sordid cover up by insular odious BCCI.
Let's not cover the racist undertones of India. When India did not have economic power, Indians could play the race card and it is well institutionalized. Now that roles are reversed, others are coming to India for jobs (like Gandhi did century ago and Greg is doing now) and others have every right to point out the Indian racism.
Maybe Australia needs to hail Greg as hero who was victim of the racism and pushed the envelop of equality: Just as Indian are taught so much stuff in the High-school (remember Gandhi being kicked off the train)

But of course the deformed, paralytic, odious BCCI is busy making money for talentless administrators, who cares about anything else.

Isn't it wonderful to see 'selfish' Tendulkar winning matches for India again? Strange coincidence that this was after Chappell left? Or that Team India's spirit was suddenly rekindled after his departure such that they were able to win the T20 WC with the same 'youth' that Chappell had failed to convert into match winners.

The fact is, since Chappell has left, the team appears more relaxed, confident of their direction with a new fearless leader and willing to give it their all.

And whoever said India is in 'the second division of cricket' is obviously a jealous Englishman. The English love their Test cricket, and losing 1-0 just isn't palatable.

I am so amused at some of the Aussie opinions . "Australia must boycott India". Ha Ha ha...Need I point out anything more. Yes, I am surely annoyed with our so called intelligent sports media persons. Have we forgotten what distorted view of things they prefered to furnish when it was so clear that Chappel was taking the team to the gutters. BCCI were fooled . But the saddest thing that happened was that Dravid was taken for a real ride. He spoke about processes and methods . Ha Ha Ha. Guru Greg's teachings. BCCI certainly deserved what they received at the end of it all. Fools dont deserve better. Cover Up? What the hell! Have we forgotten that the BCCI covered up Chappel's insolent behavior in Kolkata when he gestured with his finger. This man ,certainly has selective memory. Well! he is surely without any principles ..to say the least. God help Rajasthan Cricket association.

It isn't about the "vision" that Greg brought, according to Manokaran, but about the same racial dirt that he threw all around and the arrogance that he now puts on India. Greg is such a fool. He doesn't know that in India we do not use the term 'Race', the whites are so fond of. We do become unruly and adapt any and every right and wrong means to get the result, but I am sorry, Greg did not take the hint as he became more and more vindictive. He saw the writing on the wall but made sure that Indian Cricket sunk to its lowest. There was no where to go from there but up. Those who are opposed to The Three, should look at the Australian team and the life span there. However, someone has to write for Greg, but why? Lalit Modi's tribute was enough, by hiring Greg.
No Mat, Australians, Canadians, English, Americans do not burn effigies, they just simply sledge or shoot people outside the pavilions. Its less noticeable.

We Indians measure success only by looking at the performance of Indian team during world cup.Had Sachin played the 2007 world cup like the way he did in world cup 2003, India would have probably entered the finals. Then people would not have found any fault in Dravids captaincy or Greg Chappels coaching methods. Conversely if Sachin played 2003 world cup like the way he did in 2007, definitely India's would not have made second round.
Remember India won 17 one days chasing. Won first away test series in West Indies incidentally first series win against a major side in 20 years. Won first test match in South Africa after 15 years.
All these record happened in 2 years under Chappel, during this time senior players were not burden to the team, But once senior players became burden (Sachin, Sehwag, Kaif, Harbhajan). Chappell could not remove them nor keep them, that why India lost. Thats why we hate Chappell.

I fail to understand how Chappell decided that it was racist behaviour. Mukul makes the point beautifully when he says - " Right. Chappell was the only white man there. His assaulter was black. What other conclusion is possible?" The Indian team not doing well was the obvious cause, and a peeved/disgruntled fan therefore took it out on the man running the show - thats the explanations! I do not condone in any way the actual act of gitting Chappell, and I hope the perpetrator was suitably punished. But the REASON for doing it, just because the coach was of a different race than the Indian players and everyone around, cannot be termed racist. Was Greg's finger-display incident from the team bus also racist - don't know, but probably not again; could just have been an expression of anger at something someone said. Again, the act itself is not to be condoned.

Gavaskar and Ranatunga, as far as I have seen, have not made demeaning comments based on the white/Australian race - rather their comments have always been about the ACTIONS of those teams/ countries - this should NOT be portrayed as racist - there is a big difference. What was racist was Dean Jones calling Hashim Amla a "terrorist" on air when he had just taken a catch (no harmful or spiteful ACTION on Amla's part, but his race prompted the coomment). The media, as well as us readers should think and comment more thoughtfully and responsibly about these things.

Enough has been written about Greg, and rightfully he deserves no more attention than what has been wastefully loaded on him so far.
My response goes to those few (westerners?) who have have viewed the pour of outrage against Greg and somewhat against Australians as general as vindication of 'racism' in India fuelled by the Andrew Symonds story. It is true that "racism" exists in an obnoxius tinge. However, the tinge is more converse and is in fact a "preconceived" admiration rather than a generic loathe. Those who comment should follow Greg's journey and welcome in India. However he prefered to be "an Australian superhero who saw everything wrong in India and was here to 'teach' the right way of doing things". He was openly disrespectful of local cutlure. And somehow through all this loathe, he was still expected to be admired. He would not just damn Indian systems, he would disgrace them- WITH BCCI COVERING UP HIS ACTS! If this sounds 'racism' , then true- Indians are racist. Because we are admire races and culture other than our own. I would ask these comment makers like Dave if they would appreciate a Gavaskar ridiculing the makes of Western culture.
The goon who attacked Chappell was probably a lunatic, no more. But to call it racism has to stem from the fact that the attack was motivated by skin color. Why was John Gloster or other white members spared then?

But yes, what happened with Symonds was probably wrong, but not again- racism. Racsim is what Greg did- ridicule a culture. RAcism is when people show up in stadium wearing nappies to ridicule Gandhiji.

Oh yeah , India is a second "class" cricketing nation, now isnt that a classic example of the "class" notion? So is the moral of the story - -"not holier than Dave"?

Well put.Greg Chappel,wnts media attention and money.He knows where he stands in downunder.He can do it in India where we are not objective.Greg is taking advatage of our ignorence.

“Fear gives rise to anger, anger to hatred and hatred leads to misery”. You don’t need to be a Jedi to realise this. So what gives rise to fear – “the naked challenge”! (doesn’t include what you are thinking).When someone (Symonds, Sreesanth) steps up and says that, he wants to defeat the other person or team, then that evokes fear in hearts of the opposition and their supporters.

Symonds and his sadistic agenda: Symonds was no El Cid. He did not heroically challenge the champion of the other team, like the real Campeadors Warne and McGrath did to Sachin, rather he said that he wanted to hear the dreadful silence of the Indian fans in the stadium, and then he will know that his team is winning – sadistic to the core isn’t it. He wasn’t like Akram and S.Waugh who both embraced the Indian fans as their own and won them over (easy and simple); rather he threatened their gods – blasphemous. We all know what happened next. He was treated like a devil should be.

Sreesanth is different. Even without issuing the challenge, he evokes fear in the hearts of the opposition. He is more like Clubber Lang of Rocky III fame. More than hitting him all over the park, the batsmen are scared to face the insulting send-offs. Especially the Aussies, who think of themselves as the alpha-males in cricket, feared that their virility and performance (pun intended) is threatened because of him. They were more than glad to being subjected to the Sachin’s and Lara’s-clobbering-and the gentleman handshakes all these years. This is new!

You name the most hated players, and you can just trace some aggressive comments on the other teams at one point or other in their careers. Here’s the list (understand that fear is equally proportional to the anger shown by opposing fans and players) – Pietersen, (not Vaughan or Flintoff), Smith, (not the gentle Kallis), Sreesanth (read comments in youtube by Pakistani fans…man they are scared to the bone) Ganguly, (not the decent Dravid), Shoaib, The entire Australian team barring a few like Lee and Hussey. Nobody hated Sanath or Afridi. The hated ones are not the most devastating performers who feature in everybody’s top 10 lists; rather they are the aggressive ones. The ones who challenge!

Now convert this entire logic to the coaches. Here the ones most hated are – the ones who speak “the naked truth”. We lost a lot of matches under Wright. But we don’t hate him, we love him. But we hate Chappell, reason - he spoke the truth. “Ganguly should go” he demanded. That’s all, and the fans showed him hell. “Sachin should work harder” he reminded – the media blasted him. “Yuvraj (the prince) thinks he is a superstar when he is not” he whispered, and he was dethroned.

Excellent analysis, Mukul.
Australians calling Indians racists is like the Pot calling the kettle black. Before all of us spend all our energy dissecting how our cast-eist culture has segregated our entire population, how people use skin fairness cream to look more white, lets stop at the fact that we don't need an Andrew Symmonds or Greg Chappell of all the people to remind us about that. They both are excellent at foul mouthing their opponents both on the field and off it.
So when Mr. Chappell raised his middle finger no one cried racist, not even the secular Indian media, because that probably translated in to some sort of western non racist gesture of anger.
When Andrew Symmonds told the media that "Indians" were way over the top celebrating the T20 win, no one perceived that as a racist gesture.
But when an Indian fan hits Mr. Chappell, its quickly construed as a sign of racist behaviour.
He was a horrible talentless coach who did nothing to bring the team together and produce results. Why should we care how he couldn't get the job done, isn't he a professional ? Stop being a baby, Mr. Chappell and produce results with the teams you coach. You're lucky you still have some admirers(Rajasthan cricket) left.

Greg has earned so much attention on this site. Well! Who says notoriety does not pay? A fraud and trickster wins more attention than the most pious man in town. We arent talking about winning respect? Are We?

Bill Wuthers ,
Your summary is so short on objective analysis.Here is what I see:
1.Chappel was appointed as coach based on his claims as a coach with new ideas.
2.When he assumed charge India were #2 in ODIs (WC2003)
3.when he left India were no where.
4.He was supported by BCCI to the extent that they covered up his selective leak of info. to his trusted journalists (like Rajan Bala)
5. He did not do one honourable thing during his tenure (unless showing the middle finger to the Indian public and then feigning a finger injury is a honourable thing in your dictionary)
6.His predecessor was a newzelander and he did not find the Indians racistic, nor did he try to divide the team into seniors and juniors
7.Ever since he left, India is doing much better- they won the historic series in England (while Chappel and his methods lost it in India),we beat SA in England, we are beating Pakistan (with handsome contributions from the much maligned seniors!!!!)
8. I pity Greg, all his schemes have fallen through and he has to settle for a low profile coach job, where Indian coaches like Ramakant Achrekar have excelled.
9.Greg Chappel succeeded in ODIs largely because of the supersub rule - once that was tossed out, his record became miserable..
10. Next time, Bill, you write a sweeping comments like this - please care to check the facts

Yes, guru greg had a vision; yes, he had success in his early days as the indian coach. But, thats about it.
And yes, he got punched by somebody. But that was for being insensitive and ungrateful to someone who got him here in the first place. But then greg wouldn't know what being grateful means - thats not the way they are made down under!...

Oh come on! Forget whether you like Chappell or not or whether he ruined India's potential to be true challengers to Australia. Suck it up. India will continue to be a second rate team, beating up minor opposition, when the majority of its supporters and its administration continue to be in denial. There is much that is wrong with Indian cricket, but ignoring the issues is not the way to solve them!

Mukul, I've been a reader of your blogs for a while, and the quality has been deteriorating rapidly, best exemplified by your two previous posts. It should be renamed to "Things Mukul Kesaven likes and does not like". The only good thing to say about it is that reading the first para convinced me that it wasn't worth reading, ergo I did not bother. Please use the space to not push your personal agendas. Its a known fact that you have a fondness for VVS Laxman, and a dislike for Greg Chappel. Why harp on it endlessly instead of discussing something worthwhile and intersting? Greg C isn't even India's coach, for God's sakes!

The couple of articles by you that I really liked were the ones where you mentioned the role of an Indian fan and disparaged him for being a couch potato with overblown expectations. Well, you are becoming what you attack the most - an armchair critic and a hypocrite to boot. Or are you trying to compete with the Sunny Gavaskar in the "who hates the Aussies more" stakes? Whatever it is, some navel gazing is really called for.

aHMAD glad you agree Pakistanis are minor opposition!! we beat them afterall!!

Arjun has given the most balanced response to this article.
As for criticism of Chappell the coach, firstly, undoubtedly an all-time great as a player, he is quite frankly an ordinary coach.
Secondly, that being said, he cannot bat, bowl, field, or train for his players. India's performance as a team is an indictment on the players' ability and application rather than on the coach

What can one say about a man who demotes himself from a coach to a national team to be the coach of a lowly ranked state team (no offense to Rajathan cricket!, but currently they arent in the superleague. It is fits in tune with his down to earth bowling of the last ball to the NEWZEALANDERS, to deny them the chance of hitting a six! This man says in the same racial abuse piece to the aussie media, that he wanted a younger team and the presence of seniors (read ganguly, tendulkar, dravid) was the reason why india didnt world cup! Cotrast this with his own country's team in world cup - average age of the team was well over 27 with old coots like hayden and gilchrist well over 36, while the oldest members in the indian team at the time of world cup was tendulkar / ganguly both 34! Any way media should stop hyping on the aussies too much! Great Steve waugh visited udyan in Calcutta while ganguly was at the helm of affairs just to mentally rub him in - look i am doing some charity in your town, and pray how many times waugh came after ganguly went off? Chappell may have been a great batsman, but as a man he stoops so low that he is beneath contempt!

They're all racist!!! The INDIAN PUBLIC, MURALITHARAN, GAVASKAR, JARDINE, RANATUNGA, LARWOOD, IAN BOTHAM -- all racist!
Australia, that cricketing nation composed of ex-cons, exiles, crocodiles, kangaroos and aborigineis is the only non-racist place where the sport is played. Cheers to Australia, they've won 3 World Cups! They can say whatever they want.
As for the racist nation of Non-Australia, focus on the sport, not on the opponent!!!

Lot's of comments already so wondering if I can add something new.
Chappell was punched simply because he was Greg Chappell. Nothing more, nothing less. He had done enough to become unpopular. It should end there - linking it to racism and generalizing about Indians is wrong and in poor taste.
At the same time looking at Chappell as the embodiment of Australians is an unfounded generalization.

Australians play hard as they should, Indians also play hard - that's just how it is.
Complaining after the match - we haven't heard the likes of Ganguly, Tendulkar etc complain have we. But we have heard Waugh, Symonds etc complain. Again no generalizations - that's just how these blokes are.
John Wright never got punched - there is much admiration for him in India.

Some of us have taken potshots at the BCCI and Vengsarkar as well - are these informed decisions or just rants. Many years ago I played Under 15 and Under 19 cricket at the state level - I admired the processes and systems in place then and am confident things have become better over time.
We shouldn't complain so much and we should support our team much more. And we should have an open mind about who our next coach should be - just the most suitable person for the job regardless of country of origin.

Any non-Indian who quotes "The Caste System" as an example of Indian racism obviously doesn't have the slightest idea what he's talking about. That's done and dusted - it's in the same class of rubbish as claims that South Africa still runs under apartheid - no offense meant to South Africans, but the point is that the caste system is gone as surely as apartheid is.

For those who feel Symonds was done in on race, think again. Indian fans like the men who respect them. Indian fans in Chennai gave even Pakistan - yes, our "old enemy" - a standing ovation in Chennai after they won a Test. Not that the Australians here recently didn't play better. It was just that the Pakistanis then didn't go shooting their mouths off the way Symonds did this time about silencing stadiums. And no, one retort from a relative newcomer in the squad about "fighting fire with fire" isn't a sufficient response to shut the Blue Billion up. In fact, it's fuel to the fire, because it shows that the visitors have offended the Gods of the Indian cricket pantheon and worse, their believers too.

Nobody did monkey chants when whole teams of black men from the Caribbean, Kenya and Zimbabwe made the rounds of our stadiums because these men knew what to say and how to say it. To Symo's credit, my respect for him has gone up a thousandfold for the quiet and efficient way in which he handled the whole issue after it happened, but if he didn't want to cop it in the first place, he should have done some groundwork on how to behave to keep the Indian fans happy. Not that I'm defending the monkey chants, because that's forever put a black mark on our otherwise fantastic cricket crowds. But Symonds and the rest of the team definitely had a fair bit coming, whether that fair bit was racist or not. Steve Waugh and the team he brought here are enough proof of how this country can love men of a different colour - as long as they don't rub the crowd the wrong way. That doesn't mean Waugh wasn't aggressive in the media. He was just very careful about how he put things.

If you still want to go ahead and drive the crowd wild, do it and then be prepared to sow what you reap, instead of telling us how to treat our cricketers. Sure, maybe burning effigies is a bit extreme by your standards but that's what makes our cricket culture what it is. I am not defending those who burn effigies or break down cricketers' houses. But attempting to twist our society into functioning the way yours does was the exact thing Chappell tried - and he paid the price. And that's where the question of respect for culture comes in - something Chappell never seemed to have, as someone has pointed out in an earlier comment.

The fan who hit Chappell was obviously just a few steps from going around the bend, as enough people have pointed out before me, and I can only laugh at Australians who claim sub-continental cries of racism are coming back to haunt us, or something to that effect. Cricketers from the sub-continent used to complain about verbals in the past because as a culture, we don't do those things. South Africans, Australians and their ilk may have it written into their sporting culture, but we do not. Even the wars in our mythology are notable for the respect to the opponents and for the codes of honour that were never broken - to the extent of not fighting after sunset. Even now, old-schoolers like Tendulkar will not say a negative word on the pitch. It is only now that Indian cricket is catching up, realising that this is the way the game will be played. Forgive us if Harbhajan or Sreesanth sound pathetic swearing or exhibiting their limited wit in English, because that is not our first language, and you will suspect darker things if they go on in Punjabi, Malayalam, Hindi or Urdu. We can only hope that more Westernized players like Ganguly, who're more comfortable with English and can therefore give it back to you, can make up for the vacuum you feel.

Personally, I have worries about Lalit Modi's sanity. Bringing the Great Divider back isn't a good idea at all. Forget Chappell's talk of truth and shooting from the hip. Has everyone forgotten his weakness for leaking e-mails that should've been confidential? And his habit of speaking to any (media) man on any topic he liked, whether or not the matter deserved confidentiality? That isn't being tough or hard. It's smacks of unprofessionalism and lacks sophistication. Chappell is guaranteed trouble in a foreign culture that he refuses to understand. His intolerance will definitely catch up with him sooner rather than later, but let it not be at the expense of prospective talents from our country at the RCA. He's already made a bad start and from past experience, it's not going to improve if he doesn't change quickly. The sooner he's sent out of the country's sporting system, the better it will be for us.

Apart from attempting to make the Indian team field better and supporting Yuvraj and Raina, like he owed it to them, Chappell has not been anything more than a hypocrite and a cynic. I'm glad you pointed it out Mukul.
Racism is not to be taken in a light and emotional way like Mr. (Self Contradicting) Chappell suggests.

Chapell had a vision where cricket mad India actually achieved the number one ranking that they should have by virtue of having a population of 1 billion people. Oh silly him. Of course, now that Chappell is no longer their coach, will India will attain their true place at the top of world cricket? I don't think so. Australian selectors do not hesitate to move decisively to bring in new blood even when existing players (yes, even some of the greats)seem to be performing well enough to hold their place. This is precisely the point that needs to be addressed by India, (and sadly I admit by England too.) Many of the senior players have not been good enough to get India to the top, only good enough to not lose their place in the side. The selectors need to be fans of Indian cricket - not fans of individual players - not fans of various regions of India. The selectors have to set themselves long term goals - not short term ones like not being beaten by Australia in the next series. Surely the goal should be to develop a team that can consistently win both in India and abroad.
PS. I can only applaud Greg Chappell with milking as much money as possible out of a nation of racists like India. I have lived in India and Australia and I think racism is more obvious, prevalent (even seemingly approved by society) in India. Well, that's how I see it anyway. Good luck India in your forthcoming battle with the Aussies. Maybe a few more poojas will help.

I have no problem with aussies but their fixation with indian caste system, proves that half knowledge is dangerous more than amply. The caste system evolved was centuries old with an economic interdependence interwoven in the society. It had its merits and demerits. At least most of the descendants of the castes in India are still alive, despite the caste system! What about aborigines in the aussie land? My case rests!
secondly, in case of chappell, an total stranger purportedly hit him, he could have been mentally imbalanced, motivated - cause fully not known, not disclosed! Compare and Contrast this with the aussie great lillie who picked up fight with javed, who had to defend himself with his bat, or with michael slater who abused dravid and umpire venkat when a grounded catch was not given out! Any way the aussies and the world know that the paying public and moolah is in india and hence they will crib about the food, hotels, crowd, weather and still continue to tour - who can resist money?

The Aussie fans would disagree with Mukul and most of the bloggers in this post. But some has been talking about castes in India. Sure it's a problem in India and so is poverty. No one is denying that. But to use it as a trump card in a complete out of context shows how badly the Aussie fans here misreads criticism.

But then look at it... when the young guns were given change under Chappell era, did they fair well? No. A few matches won against Sri Lanka does not substantiate Chappell's stance.

Why get rid of experienced players and bring in fresh blood when it does not work. Has Australia dropped older players? Hayden was dropped and brought back so has been Ganguly. Both have since played well. While Hayden was instrumental in last Aussie world cup win, Ganguly destroyed the team morale (as per Chappell)??? How can it not be seen as a Chappell’s personal vendetta against the former captain?

Didn't Steve Waugh warn Ganguly against Chappell?

Chappell throughout his tenure has been loose cannon, firing and retracing his words. Remember comments on Sourav Ganguly's financial need to be a captain and the comment on Indian lawmakers? He in future would continue to make absurd comments... but to counter him in blogs makes India nation a racist nation!

We have a lot of respect for Aussie cricketers like Steve Waugh, Ian Chappell and Denis Lillie. BCCI has long worked with Lillie in the MRF foundation. Our association with Aussie players is not new. Has racism been labeled against us before by these former players…? No! Crowd misconduct or a lunatic’s punch does not make a nation or its people racist. Going by Chappell’s definition of a racist attack or racism no country would ever be devoid of racists and count Australia in….

Why do we care about Greg and his sensationalism? We should put him behind us - he is the perfect example of a great batsman blinded by his egotism - who believes he can do no wrong - and never owned up to his share of the blame for India's poor performance
He is just going with the norm of raking the mud to make moolah
Mukul - dont waste your ink on him please

WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE FINGER THAT CHAPPEL SHOWED TO THE INDIAN PEOPLE AT KOLKATTA........!!!
DIDN'T BCCI COVER THAT ONE........???
I THINK CHAPPEL BLAMES THE BCCI FOR COVERING UP THE UNCHN ISSUE THAN HE SHOULD ALSO THANKX THE BCCI FOR COVERING UP HIS FINGER SHOWING ISSUE.........!!!

Rightly said,
Chappel was an asshole and ruined Indian cricket like never before. Instead of kicking him out of the country, we called him back to RCA as a coach again. The media would do everyone a favor by not publishing shit stuff that he keeps coming up with. It is really irritating to watch him go on and on. He still passes comments about the Indian team, after he was literally kicked out as coach. A guy with reasonable amount of dignity would have refrained fro making any further comment.

Hats off to you,well researched and well writeen Mukul.

The Australian press will carry the racist line and give the Australian public the wrong impression that India is a racist country. The fact remains that Greg Chappell never toured India, it was too hot, the pitches were too flat, the umpires were not upto the mark, the food was too spicy. Who is racist, Greg Chappell or some irate fan that supposedly 'attacked' him. Was a police report filed at the time, if so, was it enteretd as a racially motivated attack, or an attack of an irate fan, gone mad. The Australian press played up the Andrew Symonds case recently in a flagrant display of selective reporting, and now they will play this trash, all in the lead up to the India tour, Why, because they can't take the new brand of Indian Ssedging, you see, they can give, but they could never take it like men!

C'mon Aussie C'mon!

Greg Chappell was an unmitigated disaster for Indian cricket. He took a confident and reasonably successful team and turned it into a rabble that was almost as insecure and paranoid as he is himself. The further he stays from India, the better.

Well put, Mukul

The only comments with any real analysis are those by Pramod Manokaran. I would have written more, but he has said it all.

I tend to agree with a previous comment that Chappell is a businessman and he is here for money. Otherwise why would he come back after the debacle in the World Cup. His racism claims were absurd, however him getting punched in the airport should be shameful to the whole country as well, whatever the team does or whatever he does to the team does not justify him being punched on the jaw.

Chappell wanted a team with youth and agility for the world cup, which in mine opinion was not a bad thing. His openly said to Ganguly that he should resign from test captaincy which is a very "un Indian" and insensitive thing to say, but thats how the Australian cricket culture is. The problem with the subcontinent is that we are more concerned with individuals. I have seen it from a very early age, poeple are happy that Sachin scored a century although India lost the match. Sachin Tendulkar is one of my favourite players as well, but to me the most important thing is to see the team win. Dropping Saurav Ganguly was a mistake, but bringing him back because he was unfairly dropped was another mistake too and you cannot fix a mistake by making another. BCCI should have seen it coming when they decided to appoint someone like Chappell who is very open and frank with what he says.

Finally someone made a comment about Gavaskar having a go at the Aussies. I agree completely, no offense, Gavaskar was a great player and have given a lot to Indian cricket (probably as much as Kapil and Sachin) and I respect him for that. But as a cricket analyst and commentator he has made some comments which are utterly ridiculous and disgraceful and I believe he should not be working for any broadcasters. His attack on the Aussies was totally uncalled for and Ricky Pointing was right to strike back the way he did. Here is one of the best cricket teams every produced in a country where a great system is producing wonderful players and Gavaskar makes a ignorant stab at them. After those comments I think he should be banished from ICC committee and also from his employers. We dont need poeple like Gavaskar in this game (after he has retired from playing). I want Australia to lose at any cost but I admire the hard work and planning they have put in for the last 30 years in the development of cricket, the fruits of which are being enjoyed by the whole world of test cricket.

well done, mr kesavan. You've waited with bated breath for Chappell to make a move and watched the documentary the day it was released. You waste no time finding fault with anybody who's an Aussie. I am very much an Indian but I love Australia. I like their spirit, professionalism, their desire to win and their selflessness. (If Ponting declared when one of their batsmen was on 194, you wouldn't hear any complaints from the batsman unlike our beloved God, Sachin Tendulkar). Our Indian cricketers were too thick to appreciate Greg's vision. One can't expect historian-turned-cricket writers to be any less thick. We are several light-years behind the Australians to appreciate what Greg had to offer.

why can't ppl see that our cricketers are light years behind the australians and that and only that is the reason for India's poor performance. don't blame Greg if you can't see this.

I won't blame Mukul for his remarks. He is a writer - he makes his living by building an audience. In fact, his compensation may be linked to the number of page views his blog gets on cricinfo. Now, judging by the names of the people posting, this site is mostly visited by Indians. So - guess what, Mukul has no choice but to pander to them - thereby driving his ratings up. And there is no better way to pander than to beat up on Greg and the Ozzies in general. Welcome to yellow journalism !! You mau hate it - but it brings in the bucks.

Its funny how things come around. Greg Chappell for all his faults tried one thing- get younger, more agile players into the team and the clamour from the media and fans was to bring back Ganguly. Chappell was hounded out for "experimenting" with young players. Then a coachless young India won the T20 cup. Suddenly the media and the fans started the clamour for young blood and the heads of the seniors Ganguly, Dravid etc.. Was Chappell right after all?? Where is the perspective??? Where is the balanced arguement?? As a group we Indians swing wildly between the two ends of a spectrum!!! There is never any middle ground.

Racism is an ugly word. The traditional simple definition is that when a white man discriminates against a non white it is racism. But when it happens the other way around it is not. This is waht Mukul and some of the others seems to be saying. India with its Cast system, Hindu/Muslim problems and many other developing third world countries are the most racist by tradition but do no want to admit. It is always the white man. How strange.

Regd - Non White

Dear Mr.Kesavan,You write well.You have a keen understanding.It is an insult to call greg a Guru which is a sacred word in our Scripture.A man who made an obscene finger sign has no moral authority to be back in India.Australins did not make him coach.He advised his brother to bowel underarm,yet talks about our culture.What are his values.He clearly understood the apathetic BCCI, the not so sophisticated Indian media.He is exploiting both and also the insecurities of Indian players , in the processes making money that he cannot make downunder.he is having the last laughs.He is a failed coach with no moral courage.When he knew that India would not make it to World cup as he claims now , he should have left.Money is greater than Indian teams cause.BCCI should politely ask him to leave so he can spend time Punch and Judy.

Once again Chappell has resorted to pointing fingers by allowing the old interview to run on the air. This is deliberate and careless on his part. If he really cared, and felt otherwise, we should have stopped or modified the interview. He should not take responsibility without accountability. BCCI should bar him from taking any assignments in India in the future. And what is Lalit Modi thinking in hiring him after such a debacle for the Rajashthan Cricket Academy. He has accused the BCCI of cover up for the Orissa incident. He has brought racism charges. Everything is others' fault according to him. We should stop kissing his ass and tell him to go back to OZ and get a job there.

I haven't read this article, I believe there is no need to read an article on "Greg Chappel the coach". I believe he lacks coaching , more importantly man management skills. I don't believe he has a resume with at least good coaching experience. Greg Chappel should learn from John Buchanan , on how he managed Shane Warne, though he had differences with him.

Dear Vish Padmanabhan - it isn't the Australian media that gives us the impression India is a racist country, it's the "fans" who pack your stadiums and make monkey chants at Andrew Symonds. Before you point out the mote in your neighbour's eye....

Oh, and beofre India decides there is nothing they can learn from Australians, perhaps they should try playing like Australians for once. You know, like by actually winning something.

Give it a rest Mukul. Regardless of whether Chappel is right or wrong, your article (along with a few more recent ones) is just not worthy of being published in cricinfo.

I don't know when you started hating Chappell, but your earlier insightful analyses have given way to drivel.

This is no different than the the populist TV commentators who know that by criticising Chappell they will look good.

Greg was given a team of his choice. Sourav was kept out at any cost, I mean, by whatever excuse was needed by Mr. More. But, then, Greg was no coach--it had to show up at some point. The media touted Team India was not a team but few individuals worn down from trying to be in the team by keeping Uncle Greg happy. India was failing miserably in South Africa. And the racist Asian God sent Sourav to rescue the team. It was the biggest slap on Greg's face. It was so shameful for him to swallow. Sourav saved the team in the next series too, he was chosen Man of the Series. And then India goes to WC with Sourav. While others fail, Sourav does well. You know now why--because Sourav wasn't coached by Greg.

How can Aussies ever complain about racism? Aren't they who invented racism? They quickly forget their fans' treatment of South Africa. Also they are the ones who invented sledging. It is so hilarious that now they are being cry babies.

To the Australians on the board crying racism:

Yes, the Symonds incident was a foul example of racism. Yes, the BCCI and the police covered it up. And yes, most right-thinking Indians are ashamed of it.

As for Chappell, while I agree nobody has any right to hit another man, to call it racism is ridiculous. For reasons right or wrong, he raised the hackles of many Indian cricket 'fans', who know just about as much about cricket as you could stick into George W. Bush's brain. Now, one of those idiots slaps Chappell across the face, that's not racism - that's plain, bleedin' idiocy.

So, in conclusion, w.r.t Symonds = yes, racism. w.r.t Chappell = b*ll*cks!!!

Hair's a drama queen if you ask me; but I don't know how he came into the whole story anyway.

Greg Chapell's coaching (in)ability was the biggest cover up. Notwithstanding his lackluster tenure with South Australia, Ganguly had the wool pulled over his eyes because of the 100 he made in Brisbane. Probably attributed more credit than was due to Greg and less to his own abilities and determination. Thanks to having made India suffer at the world cup, look what happened in Chappell's own country. It is no secret that the man was angling not for the cricket manager's job but for coaching the Australian Cricket Academy. However, for all their shortcomings, the Australian Board recognised the spectre of losing an entire generation of talent and handed the job to someone else. And, our senile old man of Indian Cricket who wants to have young blood everywhere except for his own job has brought him to coach the kids in his backyard. Rajasthan has not won the Ranji trophy in the last 50 years, and with this one move, Raj Singh Dungarpur has ensured that they will not win one in the next 50.
Finally, Mukul, I think you are absolutely brilliant when your judgement is not clouded by your heart. In future, please stay away from writing articles about VVS Laxman. It would do both him and you a world of good.

I don't think Mukul would like to see a realistic view from a neutral person, because quite often he has censored my posts, as he is so used to seeing only those posts on his blog in which people appreciate him by starting their post with praises and accolades such as, brilliant, excellent, great, wonderful and Mukul you are on spot, you are on the dot and you have said it, Mukul etc. That is because most people like to hear, read and see the praise that is directed towards them and those who say they don't, actually want to hear, see and read it again. Anyways, "IF" this post of mine makes its way uncensored into the crowd of Mukul's supporters and admirers, let there be some criticism and sarcasm directed towards me, I am used to that and I can deal with that very well, provided you are generous in accommodating my retorts.

First of all let me make it very clear that, I am not a fan of Greg Chappell, neither as a batsman, Captain or Coach nor has he ever impressed me as an individual. In fact, upon knowing much later about his shameful act i.e., about what he did against New Zealand in 1981 as a captain i.e., when he asked his brother Trevor Chappell to bowl underarm, he lost that sportsman spirit respect in my eyes and the only phrase that came to my mind was, win "by hook or by crook."

There is a link below which highlights the details of that story if anyone is interested in reading it, please go ahead. I would also like to add here that one of my uncles who happens to be an ardent fan of this game and a collector of sports magazines, newspapers, videos etc., showed me a newspaper clipping from a New Zealand newspaper, which was in response to Greg Chappell's underarm bowling, the headlines were: "Chappell your underarm stinks."

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1035164.htm

Now, coming to this Satirical Exposé of Mukul using the famous 'Judy and Punch Muppet Show' as a source of entertainment, which he so generously tried to explain it to us (ignorant blokes,) reminds me of that infamous Pakistani Ghazal singer, Ghulam Ali, famous for singing the same Ghazal in every gathering. And, whenever he is singing Urdu Ghazals for Indian audience he ruins the magic and the charm of Urdu poetry by trying not only to translate it in easy Urdu or Hindi, but he also tries to narrate the history and the background of those verses in his "pay&do" accent which is not so pleasing to the Ghazal lovers.

Anyways, back to Mukul's satire, I think it is needless, unwarranted and out of context. To me it appears like a trivial attempt from him to gain some attention from his readers. I don't think this is a civilized way of retaliating or responding to Chappell's complaint. You may write as many satirical essays, sitcoms, TV shows whatever to ridicule and make fun of him, the fact that you cannot hide or ignore is, Greg Chappell was physically abused and victimized for no reason. He was punched on his face by a frustrated angry fan who took out his frustration at him and not on the players. The coach has nothing to do with the poor performance of the team in the world cup or any match they loose. It is the players who play the game and not the coach and, a coach can only do something to help them, guide them or talk to them, but he cannot play on their behalf.

In Pakistan too during the World Cup, some people burnt effigies of Bob Woolmer, his sudden and tragic death brought some respect to his name and for his family. Otherwise, the Pakistanis too would have done something similar to him. So, in a way he is lucky not to be alive to face such humiliation and physical abuse. BCCI may have covered up the whole saga for whatever reasons or perhaps thats the way they handle issues like these. They also underplayed the pushing incident of Mr. Sharad Pawar from the stage when the over excited, unruly bunch of Ponting men wanted to pose for a photograph pushed him out from the stage. Initially Mr. Pawar said, it is OK, OK. But, later he complained that he felt very insulted with that kinda manhandling and physical abuse. Why did he take such a long time to complain about it, why didn't he complain then?

Chappell must have also thought in the same way so many times before talking about it now. There are so many examples in the medical field that patients who have been abused, suppress their feelings and emotions and keep it to themselves for years and they vent out their feelings after many years and in some case up to decades and, some never speak about it. So, what Chappell did was nothing unusual or strange. It is very easy for people to ridicule someone but, it is very difficult to praise or give them the respect that they deserve. This is the same Greg Chappell when India hired him a few years ago and the people of India were very happy about hiring a coach who is very highly qualified, professional, experienced, well known cricket player from a great cricket playing nation. No one ever talked about his underarm bowling then. Out of respect they called him "Guru" or Master and the other extreme was when he failed in their eyes, they called him Chappal or Slipper. And they actually beat his effigy with slippers and burnt it.

I am surprised to see the response from some Indian supporters on this blog showering praises and accolades at Mukul for providing them with such cheesy, sleazy sort of entertainment and even a "supposedly," self-proclaimed highly qualified person called, "DR.CMM SUNDARAM MD MRCP MBA" with so many strings attached to his name is confirming the standards of his academic qualifications and his abilities from those 3 lines that he wrote. The first (wnt) could have been a typo but, the way he spelled the word, "ignorance" shows how ignorant and naive he is. Yet, he talks with so much authority and attitude.

Finally the punch line is for Mukul: Boy there is nothing farcical about receiving a punch on your face - in fact it is a real thing. There is a Latin expression by Horace: "Primum ipsi tibi." It means: "If you wish to draw tears from me, you must feel pain yourselves." So, you better get a punch from your Judy and see how it feels. ;-)

You are cordially invited for the seaside entertainment at Chowpati beach.

Ps. please bring your own Bhel Puri.

This one is for the Australian bloggers: if you are content getting your information about India and Indians from the Australian media and history textbooks written with a missionary slant, then pray confine your opinions to those forums. Otherwise, come to India with an open mind, see, and judge for yourself how Indians really are, and then express your own opinions here. After all, that's what blogs are for: to provide a voice for the unheard. The voice of the biased media: we hear a lot of it everyday everywhere.

Well said Mukul, this i sthe very 1st time i am posting comments on this site. I certainly disagree with a few people's comment posted. Greg Chappel the only good thing about him was get the youngster to the side which is no different from any other coaches wanting to do when hired. So did the best ever coach for India as per my iknowledge John Wright under whose era we saw Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer, Bhajji, Mhmd Kaif(now a non-existence) etc.. a also the making of the best ever Indian captain Saurav. Greg's vision did sound good but i declare him as the worst executioner of his own plans of trying to benefit the Indian team. Few have spoken abt our media off balance nothing wrong in that but then our media is no diff to the other world's sport media. I live in London i keep up news on football, cricket etc on daily basis m a sports fanatic. No the gr8 commentors get some research in place b4 critisizing our own ppl doing the job. Its simple rule in the media industry for alll businesses & sports if u perform u will be hailed to the extreme levels & when u under perform to the expectations of the millions they will show you the ground, but appreciate them atleast they clearly show the both ends each time unlike Greg who never knew what he was upto as a coach of the Indian team. I would like to call him an abuser to Indian Fans whne he showed his wrinkled middle finger to one of the supporters of the game. He tried to establish a policy of divide and rule within the team which the english of yesteryears were good at and not the aussie which he should know but to some extent he could suceed in his personal goal & resulted in a decabled world cup showing of the Indian Team bring an end to his tenure as a coach to the Indian team.

Mukul, please stop these pointless, horrendously long columns that make no sense and get back to your terse humorous self.
Greg is expressing a feeling - and you are arguing against it? If I see a doctor and complain that I have a headache and the doctor argues with all logic that I should not have a headache instead of treating the symptoms - I would not communicate with the doctor in a proper manner.
It is the same case with you media guys - you are so news hungry and criticize (with the benefit of hindsight of course), misreport and misinterpret every single word that players, coaches, and administrators say, that it is quite possible that peopke say things to you and don't really mean it.

Apparently some of India's rich cricket culture has rubbed off on Chappell