Luckily, he’s been helped by a Board that’s too busy playing factional politics or fixing blockbuster deals, by a captain, Rahul Dravid, who’s proving to be as commanding and independent minded as, frankly, Manmohan Singh, and by a media too much in awe of the Chappell mystique to ask hard questions.

To be fair, Chappell’s done something right. As it happens, the “right stuff" has been limited to the shorter game. Beyond his jargon and pompous phrases – “flexibility”, “multi-dimensional players” – he’s given the Indian limited-overs team its most effective bunch of “bits and pieces” cricketers since the golden period between 1983 and 1985.

In that phase, players like Madan Lal and Roger Binny and Balwinder Sandhu – all honest triers and great fighters, but not quite Test superstars – gave the Indian one-day team a long tail, could bowl effectively, field hard. They provided India that extra zip that a team comprising just classic batsmen and classical bowlers will not have, not in the 50/60 overs format.

Essentially, a Kumble, a Dravid and three Robin Singhs works better in one-day cricket than does three Dravids and two Kumbles.

Chappell has recognised the value of this truism, taken it to its logical conclusion. Thus he’s packed the team with young men he can mould into “flexible” cricketers – a Pathan who can come up the order, a Kaif who can open the batting, a Raina who can be the incremental anything.

True, there have been some victims to this experiment – Ganguly has probably ended his one-day career a little before time, Laxman was never considered for the limited-overs team even when the super-sub rule (stupid as it was) was around to facilitate specialist cricketers like him.

Nevertheless, on the whole, Chappell has delivered results in the abbreviated version. Grant him that – he’s produced no aces but lots of jokers in the pack: players who can do a bit of this, a bit of that, and do it effectively.

Now move to Chappell’s big failing – Test cricket. To ease his way into the cockpit seat in the one-day squad, Chappell hasn’t been too perturbed by the sacrifices he’s got the Test team to make.

His one-day plan was premised on a need for young cricketers with simple, tabula rasa minds on which he could inscribe his ideas. He had no time for complicated and complex men, no patience to engage with experience, however talented. The wreck that VVS Laxman has become is there for all to see.

What did I expect Chappell to do with the Test team? Well, give it some thought, spare it some moments from all his cogitation about and obsession with the 2007 World Cup.

India’s greatest quartet of middle-order batsmen – Tendulkar and Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman – are ageing together. Instead of guillotining them, one by one, couldn’t Chappell have sat them down – explained why they didn’t quite fit into his one-day plans (three of them don’t, not even Tendulkar) and how, to lengthen, their Test years, he may want to rest and rotate them, keep them hungry that much more?

Under Chappell, India has seen Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra fade away – done in by an overdose of one-day cricket, washed out by a savage schedule. This wasn’t Chappell’s fault; they were already past their best when he arrived.

What’s his approach to their successors? Does he want Pathan to end up like them – slipping from Test strike bowler to one-day pinch-hitter who can bowl a bit?

What’s Chappell done to protect S Sreesanth and RP Singh and, even, Munaf Patel from early burn-out? Has he put his foot down and said: “No, Mr More, these are Test winners. They will not play one-day games, not on flat Indian pitches. They need to be nurtured.”

Where is the Chappell stamp on the Test side? Where is this allegedly cerebral cricketer’s sensitivity to traditional cricket, his understanding of player psychology?

I expected a Merlin, got only a Houdini. It’s sad; if you cherish Test cricket, it’s sadder.

The observations made in the piece though interesting are at the same time little far fetched.
The basic core of the test team has not changed. Laxman was not there in the two tests as the team wanted to try out a five bowler strategy in hot and humid conditions. Four bowlers is too difficult in the demanding and tough schedules.
Laxman will come back.
If the team is not doing well, it is due to lack of form of key players due to injuries and fatigue. Chappel has not done anything wrong so far in test arena, but yes i can agree that he has not done anything new either. But to see him as a monster is extremely naive and inappropriate.

Chappell has done the nearly impossible thing... he has snatched the limelight from the Indian Stars.

Through a combination of guile, manipulation and cold aggression he has transformed the team. We have a better performing ODI team (the results are not out fully.. wait for a few more gruelling series) but our Test team is in shambles.

We have younger and fitter players, but cricket has not always been about fitness alone(Gavaskar/ Ranatunga/ Boon, etc.). There is a place for passion and experience, for wrinkles born playing under the harsh Indian Sun. The fickle Indian public has its Dhonis and Pathans and Chappell knows the pulse of the young Indian audience. In the glare of the BCCI financial success and the marketing charisma of Chappell's team, some greats have been relegated to the forgotten pages of history books.

So let us say Hello to Big Moolah and ODI Success... Sayonara Test Respectability. Rest in Peace!! We shall miss you.

Test cricket is a far more difficult version of the game, and it is more difficult to recover from the stage India were in, when they drew the series against Pakistan last year. It is true Chappell should put some more emphasis on test cricket, but certainly it needs some more time.

I don't see why Tendulkar doesn't fit the one day squad. With all the problems he has now (many of which come from injuries picked up in his long carrier), Tendulkar is finding it more difficult to play the longer version of the game; the shorter version is a lot easier for him still.

Just to add to my previous comment - the test team isn't as bad as made out. India fielded some extremely promising youngsters in the bowling stakes - with a depth the likes of which has never been seen before - and are rightly trying to shape a middle order for the post ganguly-laxman era....given time this could be team with the capability (ie the bowlers) to genuinely compete overseas. Greg should be given credit for some bold decisions over ganguly and Laxman and his attmepts to fashion a new side after John Wrights over-hyped exploits.

One test defeat, largely based on a wrong choice to bowl and a short sighted selection to leave Laxman out does not take away anything from what Chappell has achieved or the new look Indian team has achieved under him. There are a few who can do well in ODIs alone but there are a host of others who can in both forms. The RPs Munafs and Sreesanths need a look into both forms of cricket. Such biased articles help nobody.

Taking off from your reference to Tendulkar, Chappell's statement of April 12 - "Tendulkar still has a role" or words to that effect - suggests he's Sachin's not in his future scheme of things. I mean, "still"? Isn't that a past-his-consume-by-date kind of label? Maybe Chappell's only saying that to make the right noises before easing out the most scared of our cricketing cows.

Ashok Malik's comments are a bit cheap and he is indulging in personality attacks on Chappel and Dravid. Looks like not much thought has gone into his writing. To me he sounds like a layman on cricket and am not sure if his piece should be the first one on the topic. Can Amit Verma let us know Mr Malik's credibility?

Mr Malik's article raises a number of valid points, however it tends to be unduly critical at times, verging on the ridiculous. I shall allude to one example.

"What’s Chappell done to protect S Sreesanth and RP Singh and, even, Munaf Patel from early burn-out?" - Early Burnout? No, Mr. Malik, if they burnout after their 10th onedayer, then frankly they aren't worthy of being in any team. After all, they've only just received their blue Team India jerseys. What's next? Asking for Suresh Raina to be rested regularly so as to prevent a shoulder injury? As for not wanting them to play on flat Indian pitches, it's all well and good to pick up a five-for or a ten-for on a seaming surface in South Africa or England. Doing that on the subcontinent is something that the truly great bowlers do.

The sad nature of the beast that is Indian cricket is the often irrational emotional attachment to players. What must not be forgotten is the fact that EVERY player, no matter how brilliant will eventually run out of steam and have to retire. Laxman and Ganguly seem closer to this point than Tendulkar or Dravid. It is inevitable that they will all retire at some point. Wouldn't it be better to rid the team of incumbents before they begin to cost the team big-time?

While Chappell may or may not be around after 2007, he is turning the team into a succesful one day unit. For the myopic, series victories against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and a hard fought draw against the South Africans preceded this "England C" series. During the John Wright era, India languished in the lower regions of the ODI table, but were succesful as a test team. They're still ranked number 3 in test matches and the one day performances are getting better and better. So where exactly is the beef?

A little melodramatic, don't you think? A few good results in the next lot of test matches and we'll be singing Chappell's praises again. The time for judgement is not yet here.

Ramesh, please note that you are doing exactly the same thing that you are accusing Ashok of! If you have a problem with his piece, by all means attack his arguments and show us where he's wrong. But please do refrain from personal attacks.

Any further comments of that nature will not get through.

To be honest, protecting young players argument reads a bit hollow. I mean young players need to play to get experience and as you yourself have said that India playing too much criket is not his fault. He cannot go against the board (who are setting up the matches to get there wallets full).
Also with the ICC Cup coming up, this is valuable practise for young players to get much needed match experience and older players (sehwag, kaif) to get back into form.

I somewhat agree with your points regarding Chappell's mark on the test team. India have not shown much progress in the test arena. But he cannot do much about players being out of form.

Regarding Chappell being coach for 1 year, unless you have a shining crystal ball, which tells you the future correctly, that is pure speculation.

Facile victories against an English C team, get a grip mate.

Sorry to say this, you were expecting a miracle, but got reality. It's sad; you seem to dislike Chappel, it's sadder

I agree with Ashok Malik to an extent. But I wouldn't like to discredit Chappel so much - yet. I expect him to lead India towards a scenario with two sets of team with different mindsets but with a common core.

Even if Chappel is said to have a tunnel vision, what about the Indian super stars? Many of them (including Dravid) have openly said that the test cricket is the real thing. Yet we don't see any of them following Warne's example to pass the one-dayers for tests.

Blame-game street is not a one-way.

Get a life mate. The team's doing all right. Losing the Karachi test from a winning position (39/6) and the test in Mubai are the two failures. Surely cant say the team is in shambles.

Mr Verma, I thought Cricinfo was overall a good website for cricket. & hope it remains so with Ashok Malik's article as a blot. It would have been better placed in Cricketnext rather than cricinfo. This is just pouring out his ire on chappell.

He is right and let me add a little too. Just performances from one and two can win you one-day matches and so the bits and pcs. cricketer comes to limelight more. Whereas, it's over a period of 5 days or 4 innings, 15 sessions and a team, I repeat a team has to perform or you end up as a losing side. and these bits and pcs. cricketers can never succede in tests just because of this. So what Greg had done is even worse, he had made even high grade players to bits and pcs. cricketer, so that india wins one dayers, Pathan is the best and many more to follow within coming 6 months. Result, more and more losses in the tests to come. Onedayers, people love to see more, more money for board. Greg had seen the right moment for his 'right tactics', so he is the winner, now but, even bits and pcs. cricketers will fail in the royal stage of world cup, because of the great magnitude of the stage, and all the players except dravid is insecure now in the team, then we'll have to kick his arse, but be sure that he will take his payments much before the world cup and when India loses in the world cup he will dramatically resign taking responsibility of the losses.

Just beacuse we won a 2-3 series in our home soils that against England -C team an aging Srllankan team and plitically unstable Paki's and South African , we shouldn't conclude this as a successfull 1 - day team, In tests we have the results , and one dayers let watch out come from gulf.

I always enjoy victory, but i also enjoy a good fight. As a young Indian I want to see the cricket team embody the strength of the masses. Mental strenghth. So it is of no consequence to me if a supremely talented man makes a duck. i would much rather see a talentless man fight for his runs. the spirit of the Indian team has slowly transformed from talent to mental toughness. the latter being a prerequisite. i strongly respect the author's comments, but disagree on the single count, that greg Chappel has brought to the team a Bullish fighting spirit. and for this Greg can surely be forgiven for failings that have yet to be fully addressed.

Greg Chappell has done the right thing by taking some very strong decisions. Ganguly should have been a non-issue but the media bloated it. Similarly there is too much made about the Test match results. Greg and Dravid have shown very positive attitude by doing certain things like playing five bowlers , not asking the groundsman to prepare dust bowls, blooding youngsters . You might loose a match or two by doing this but in the long run this is definitely going to help.

i really dont understand the mentality . . we have won against a full strength South african team , Pakistani team and sri lankan team and evry bdy says these teams were weak give me a break

Mr. Malik article highlights the facts, which are hard to accept but true. Except for the Pakisatn ODI series win and SA ODI series, others have come against weak opponents. All the ODI win was mainly due to performance of two players Yuvi and Dhoni. But in test matches, we have failed misreably, when the pitches favour bowlers. Plus, due to commercialisation of cricket, ODI wins are getting highlighted than the failures of test matches.

Wait. It's easy to just say all the oppositions India got were weak. When Sri Lanka came, they were expected to dominate the series, not India, who came back from another poor run of games against New Zealand in Zimbabwe. Pakistan were supposed to thrash India in the ODI series. Pakistan didn't have Shoib Akhtar, India didn't have Harbhajan. Afridi could play only two matches, so could Sehwag. On paper and recent form, Pakistan were very good team who defeated England and now Sri Lanka. Defeating this Pakistan team 4-1 was no joke. And England C team? England miss Trescothek, India miss Tendulkar (a man who can play long innings at the top). Vaughan is hardly a matchwinner for England in one dayers now. Sehwag and Kaif were in terrible form in this series. If this was England C team, then I would like to know what would be the England, England A and England B teams.

We do not see any striking improvements in the test side yet, but that is largely because highly established players like Tendulkar and Sehwag failed to score even a single big one (since Sehwag's 254 in Lahore). The new guys, together with Rahul and Kumble, did play well. As somebody said already, Mumbai loss was highly influenced by two short term strategic mistakes (toss and 5 batsmen, knowing that two of them, Sehwag and Tendulkar, were out of form). Since dropping Tendulkar and Sehwag from the test side isn't a solution yet (which, I think, most will agree with) I don't see what is Chappell doing wrong there. As Partha said, Laxman will come back.

India has become a good ODI unit and this augurs well as far as the World Cup is concerned. But our test performance is below par and we must find players of the Amarnath/Gavaskar genre if we want to succeed in the longer version of the game. Test cricket demands discipline and dedication and I do not see many in our team except Dravid who pass the grade. One must not however blame Chappel for the current state. After all WE selected him and wanted HIM to coach. That he is a professional cannot be denied.
HOpefully we will find and nurture young cricketers for the longer version too. Also let us hope that we nurture and do not burn out our young lot with too much of one day cricket.

I dont understand why everyone is so excited about our 'hyped' one day side. Only one bowler is guaranteed to be in the WC squad (Pathan). I dont see Sreesanth, Agarkar etc winning us the WC.
The one thing I agree with the author is that he made a mess out of Pathan. He is realising fast that if he bats better, he does not need to bend his back and pretend he was always a 'slow' bowler. He will soon become a batting all rounder losing his place in the test squad.

Malik is right on several counts but he is not giving Greg credit where its due. A part of the blame should also be laid on the shoulders of the Board/Selectors and to a greater extent on senior players who inspite of their lack of success want to continue playing in both versions of the game. If players are not willing to do it on their own, it's high time selctors did it for them.

Very Bollywood from the first statement to the last - the hero (aka Mr Malik) vs. the Rest and logic be damned. But a tiny grain of truth nevertheless - there does seem to be a clear emphasis on one day cricket under the current regime. Nothing surpring - Chappel has often said that one of his main goals for which he was hired was to win the World Cup. So if you want to blame anyone, blame "society" or the BCCI. But frankly, I don't see why this is wrong (even though I much prefer test cricket to one-dayers). A World Cup win would be what 99% of the Great Indian Cricket Loving Public would prefer over even a series win over Australia. Give the people what they want ... or deserve.

To look at the broader scheme of things, the whole nation of India has developed a one sided apetite for one day cricket. Many poeple around the world talk about the amount of support for cricket in India. What they do not realise is the fact the general indian population have reduced their liking of the game to a format which is very superficial and redundant in the world stage. And for the BCCI, it is run by economists and businessmen who are interested only to make more profit and exhaust all resources they have. Its more quantity than quality really. The problem is that the money involved is so huge that even players who know that the ultimate form of the game is test match cricket are caught up and blinded. The instant stardom that you can attain in making a hundred in an ODI against a mediocre team against a mediocre opposition is amazing.
In the article before Greg Chappel was blamed for lots of reasons. The fact we have to realize is that Indian cricket has become a market to make floods of money and Greg being a professional understands what the country wants and what would elevate him and he is doing just that. Although to his credit he has inflicted a considerable amount of change that has helped the One Day team vastly.
Ultimately it the game of cricket that is suffering in India. Administrators and supporters have to realize that it is a game between bat and ball. Not bat Vs bat from both sides. And the players have to realise and sit down with the administrators to find the right balance to prevent injuries and lenghten their careers. Before blaming Chappel we should look at the administrators who run the game and are in the process of setting up more reduntant and ridiculous one day encounters in off shore venues. There is a need to maximise revenue for development but some constraints have to be put forth.

If I was Mr Malik, I wont call Suresh Raina an incremental anything. Also, remember England won Ashes because Flintoff can bat and bowl, giving their side an extra dimension. I believe, what has changed with this Indian side over last few months is their attitude. Unfortunately, top order has not performed upto the mark and our reliance on spin bowling let us down in test cricket.

I didn't read the article beyond the first 3 paragraphs.

Ashok Malik's theories are incorrect. We still are #3 test team in the world - We're winning enough to be #3 and losing some matches needlessly so we couldn't become #2. And this started from 2004 season. We lost a series to Aussies at home, which should've been atleast drawn. We drew a series against pakistan and england at home, that should've been won. These were the 3 chances we missed.

Why did these happen? What's the difference between the indian team of 2003 and the team of 2004-06?

The difference is the failures of Tendulkar and Laxman. While dravid has been good, in the last 2 years, he didn't reach the lofty heights of 2001-2004. And Sehwag has been good until the series against England. Let's not go near Ganguly, because he hardly won us a test match with his batting.

So, the difference is the indifferent form of our batsmen in the last 2 years, not able to produce centuries after centuries, which they did earlier!

That's the only reason. Our pivotal batsmen just aren't scoring runs. And there aren't good replacements yet for tendulkar or laxman! Yuvraj is a good replacement for ganguly, but there's noone else yet to replace laxman or Sachin! Kaif is over-rated. He can at his best score a 50 and can only score laxman's 281 in his wildest dreams. If Sachin and laxman and sehwag get back to scoring runs and if dravid lifts himself a notch higher and with yuvraj, dhoni and irfan to support, there is no reason why we can't be a good test team again!

"Tendulkar still has a role" - Just to comment on a comment, read this article, and compare the words with what Chappell said on the eve of Delhi test against Sri Lanka, about Ganguly. Stark similarity, isnt it? Reading it more carefully, you will see that it mentions money quite a lot. Any cues?

The article uses an exaggerated language, no doubt, but is it justified? Yes. The impact can be seen in the 20 odd comments that have come in after the same.

About the content - there is no denying the fact thet we have depleted a lot in the tests. As far as one dayers are concerned, nobody will deny that we played and won against a really depleted England. About Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan, yes these teams were in half strength, half because the players who perform against India like Inzamam, Afridi, Jayasuriya, Gibbs, Boje, etc. were not there. And the wins came on the back of strong performances by Dhoni and Pathan, then by Yuvi when news came out of him being dropped, and now Raina.

Remember, how many times has the top order failed recently?
Remember that Sehwag who never goes beyond 30 these days was once compared to Tendulkar?
Remember that at one point of time, Pathan by his swing was compared to Akram, and the same guy now struggles to take wickets?
Know that a certain Joginder Sharma is regarded much better than all your Munafs etc on the domestic circuit?
Remember that RR Powar was dropped long back?
Remember the email that Chappell sent to the board, that animosity towards a few players and of which only Bhajji remains?
Remember that Mr. Kiran More has 'other' business tie-ups with Mr. Chappell?
Remember that Ganguly has 10000 runs in his ODI career and was performing better than the so called Mr. Flexible, Mr. Kaif (some 40 runs in last ten innings, and 4 ducks in last 7)?

We forget all the questions in the glory of the present, we forget all when we are winning, we forget that we are playing against an England team, in which none may be 4 players be a part of the world-cup aquad. We forget what we are truly, and the true test will be WC2007, as Mr. Chappel says. Mark my words, he will have an extended leave, as India's campaign is going to get over very early against a full strength Austrailia, South Africa, Pakistan, etc.

One more question here just to leave you to ponder: How many tests/ODIs have we played on the seaming tracks under the so called winning youth juggernaut of Mr. Chappell? None! We had a series in Sri Lanka, then Zimbabwe, then India, then Pakistan, then India again.

Austrailia dominate!

"Remember dont hate cricket, watch anything but the Indian cri.. er, politics"

- Vikas (urs4evervikas@yahoo.com)

Even if we assumed for a second that Ashok Malik is right, it doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things. Cricket is just another form of entertainment and if one-dayers are what the customer demands, then thats what Chappel is doing - giving the consumer what he/she wants.

Test cricket as we know it will be gone in the very near future. England will continue to play Australia in test matches until the Aussies realize theyre is no money in beating up on the poms.

India will play Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh exclusively in ODI's only. No one wants to play the West Indies. As for NZ they will be used to fill in the open spots on the schedule (and will eventually become like the West Indians and no one will want to play them).

I am glad I won't be around by the time Test Match Cricket is retired.

In future, we will witness 20 over shootouts. Maybe a 20/20 world cup every year. As long as the paying public is willing to put up with the crap that is dished out and the TV companies pay exorbitant sums for the rights the men in charge will keep pushing the envelope.

Cheers

Sitaram

This Article by Ashok Malik is a mixture of facts and some unwanted sentiments (like burn outs for the new lads?). I do agree that Chappel's handling of Laxman is very disappointing and I, just, can't understand whey he bats so low down the order when he is considered as a test specialist. Because of this, he doesn't get enough practice in the international cricket. When there is a flat track in Tests, Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulakar scores Triple centuries and Quadruple centuries. People like Laxman only gets his chance when the pitch is playing up and usually the top 3 or 4 would have been back in the pavilion for not too many runs on the board. That will create pressure for the lower ordre batsmen and without enough exposure, any batsmen, even Brian Lara, struggles. There seems to be no questions asked on why Laxman is getting mistreated? The guy's last few ODI's before he was termed an a non-ODI player would suggest that there is something wrong in the selection policy(Perhaps, Chappel?). I am sure India will learn - even though it maybe too late by then - when they play better bowling sides in alien conditions that quality batsmen are needed in ODI's too. I thank Mr.Malik for showing the boldness to talk about these things when India, seemingly, are doing well. India still has top gun playes like Dhoni, Yuvraj and Pathan and I am not saying this ODI side is bad. But, they shoudl try to make use of some precious talents like VVS so that we don't lose them when they can still deliver the goods.

Mr. Malik and our media always paints everything in black and white, there are never any greys. Even if all these new players are bits and peices, i will prefer that instead of watching one supehero for next 20 years in indian cricket.
Talking about burnouts. Cricket is one sport where a player can have 15-20 years career and still we will be talking about extending his playing days.
We are big enough country to produce few superheroes every few years if they are given chances. And we are talking about a sport and not chess, so please stop talking about burn-outs.

When did India really start worrying about winning Test matches?

After the great Kokkatta
miracle?

Since the early 90s it was taken for granted that India will prepare dust bowls and win Test matches.

It is naive to suggest that India has prepared our boys for a Test series Win abroad.

The conditioning camp, usually held in Chennai - before a tour of England or Australia... oh well!

Why blame it on the coach - who is here to manage the resources the system churns up.

It is the BCCI that has done nothing for cricket in India. If the author can point out one true test match wicket in India, that helps fast bowlers as well as batsmen - with some turn on day 4 and 5 - I will take back all what I have written.

Chepauk used to have a pitch like that in the late 70s. The last such pitch was when we won the Test against Asif Iqbal's team at Chennai.

If MRF pace academy with the help of Lillee gave India a tearaway fast bowler like Venky Prasad... it says a lot about the system in place.

If we are to be a team like Australia, winning at home and away... we need to have all sorts of pitches on which our bowlers and batsmen get quality practice.

What can Chappell do about it? Is he the grandfather of the BCCI? He is a professional and he has a contract to provide results that BCCI keeps earning more and more from TV revenues.

We all know, what a world cup victory can do to BCCI revenues... so if he is doing it with bits and pieces players - he is doing it for BCCI and team India. If he doesn't deliver, probably the wisest man alive - Navjyot Singh Sidhu would be made the coach... Oops, BJP is not in power these days.

Dalmiya has been given all the credit for bringing TV revenue to BCCI. The fact is, Dalmiya was lucky - Star Sports and then ESPN came to India to give our good ole DD a run for their money.

If that money has bought India the services of a Wright or a Chappell - good for them.

The best thing we all can do is throw a bucket of water into the dustbowl tracks prepared for even a domestic game.

If the author wants to blame anyone, it is the Board. Having nonsencical matches played in all kinds of frivolous venues (Guwahati folks? Plz!) and virtually packing a schedule all-year round, the Board has ensured higher burnout rates. No coach has control over this. Chappell is juggling with what he's got -- he does not have control over macro developments (cricket politics, scheduling, TV deals, etc). He's trying his best to manage with the resources that he has at hand. To squarely blame him for India's Test shortcomings is far-fetched and lacks teeth.

It is alright to win ODIs in the subcontinent. The real test lies in winning on overseas fast and bouncy pitches.
I think we need to wait before praising Chappell. The world cup will be held in South Africa, not in the Indian sub-continent.

Since Ganguly fans can not sing any more praises about him(as he is no more playing cricket), they are after Chappel and Dravid...
Stop attacking dravid and chappel and start worrying about the inform batsmen like KAIF,SEHWAG,TENDULKAR.....

1.It's amusing to see how Chappel is becoming a bit like Ganguly - people either 'like' him or 'hate' him.

2. It's also amusing to see some readers talk like Indian captains - "we're playing good cricket...it's just that we had 3 bad test matches!"

While I have been a great fan of Greg Chappell as a player, I'm not sure he has the kind of influence / motivations that the author ascribes.

India's problems seem to stem more from egos, administration incompetance and the unfortunate fluctuations of form. Chappell might be good but he can't accept the "credit" or blame for effectively managing all those things.

Maybe, what would help india more than anything is to have Allan Border run the show.

The comments posted show the myopic nature of "Indian Cricket fans", as I would like to call them. They are not genuine cricket fans. Chappell has killed the attractive nature of Indian Cricket.Pathan at No. 3 against Brett Lee? I dont thinks so. Why not nurture proper batsmen than bits and pieces cricketers. Remember England during 90's. India are now a bit more successful than the past England team because we still have better individuals. If Ganguly's performances warranted sacking, what about Sehwag's and Kaif's? Chappell's reign has been all about double standards.

Greg Chappell has taken a leaf out of history in managing this Indian team. He has astutely observed that Indians through eons have been prone to internal divisiveness especially driven by petty self-interest. That's how the Britishers ruled us for over two centuries. The first thing Chappell did was to upset Ganguly's apple cart by driving a wedge between him and Dravid. In a smart move, he read the ensuing political friction in the upper echelons of BCCI and sided with the Pawar camp to help drive Ganguly and his benefactor Dalmiya out of the equation. The ruthlessness and almost fanatical intensity with which Ganguly's entire cricketing persona was snuffed out by the likes of Kiran More is a treatise for anyone interested in the studying how powerful leaders can be replaced.

Given this recent history of Indian cricket, the wins in Pakistan and the English tour are good to hear but hide a fast deteriorating social fabric of the Indian cricketing establishment. The guiding strategy seems to be one based on fear and competing with your fellow player to be in the "good books" of the high and mighty.

In a country like Australia where talent abounds, this kind of competitive atmosphere can work but in India where we really haven't had a single all-rounder of world repute after Kapil and where we get one Tendulkar in 15 year, can we afford to have players breaking down mentally, primarily because of the fear that if they don't perform there existence as cricketers might be in question? This is precisely what is happening to Kaif and to some extent Sehwag. Ganguly's treatment was the extreme manifestation of this draconian undercurrent that has gripped the Indian establishment. Soon we are going to have players who will not see their international careers extending more than a couple of years because they know that eventually they are going to be replaced, summarily. The Indian team sadly, will seem more like a display of the cliched musical chairs than a world beating, self-sustaining, cricketing organization.

the author is confused. But he definitely likes to blame Chappel for it.

The author considers Ganguly an "ace".
Laxman was going thru a bad patch and at his age that could
be dangerous.
The author talks about packing the team with jokers.
But how many aces do we have in India really ?
And the aces actually feature in both the teams
Dravid, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Yuvraj (for now) and Pathan.
Bhajju, Kumble, Ganguly, Laxman were aces now they
are more of jokers. Kumble is a joker as far as ODIs are concerned.
I expected a Merlin, got only a Houdini.
That summarizes the author's thinking : confused.
Merlin is a wizard and Houdini a magician.
Merlin is imaginary and Houdini a real person.

Even assuming that Chappel favors ODI success, why would he scuttle the Test side as Malik accuses? Makes no sense. Wouldn't it be double glory if the Test side performed well too? What stopped a full strength side from winning the Karachi Test, after getting a rather good start? Not Chappel I presume?

Next point: Malik needs to look at our Test record before Chappel got here. We drew against Pakistan at home, lost to Australia. To boot, we were losing ODIs like no-one's business. Would it be fair to say that Wright had stuck some devilish bargain with Powar? I mean the devil?

MOST IMPORTANT -- since 1996 when VVS made his debut and then withered away his youngest and potentially best years playing second fiddle in Azhar and Ganguly's scheme of things, in 10 years since, what quality TEST batsmen have we unearthed? Sehwag has an admirable record, but was never one that was likely to stand unexposed for a long career, given his shortcomings. So we have a great middle order for 10 years, but not one new face with promise was unearthed. Is it a bit far fetched to think that maybe we are paying the price for not grooming Test quality young batsmen all these years? Or did we think SRT,RD,SG,VVS were going to be around for ever?
Our current woes in Tests are as much due to a transition phase in batting, which unfortunately was never planned for.

Finally, if Ganguly was in the side now and India had the same TEST record under Chappel(no clear reason to believe why not) would Malik have theorised the same Faustian bargain?? Something tells me not.

My plea to Cricinfo: Even under a web-sampling news platter, please use caution in highlighting such conjecture-based articles as this.

Greg Chappell has taken a leaf out of history in managing this Indian team. He has astutely observed that Indians through eons have been prone to internal divisiveness especially driven by petty self-interest. That's how the Britishers ruled us for over two centuries. The first thing Chappell did was to upset Ganguly's apple cart by driving a wedge between him and Dravid. In a smart move, he read the ensuing political friction in the upper echelons of BCCI and sided with the Pawar camp to help drive Ganguly and his benefactor Dalmiya out of the equation. The ruthlessness and almost fanatical intensity with which Ganguly's entire cricketing persona was snuffed out by the likes of Kiran More is a treatise for anyone interested in the studying how powerful leaders can be replaced.

Given this recent history of Indian cricket, the wins in Pakistan and the English tour are good to hear but hide a fast deteriorating social fabric of the Indian cricketing establishment. The guiding strategy seems to be one based on fear and competing with your fellow player to be in the "good books" of the high and mighty.

In a country like Australia where talent abounds, this kind of competitive atmosphere can work but in India where we really haven't had a single all-rounder of world repute after Kapil and where we get one Tendulkar in 15 year, can we afford to have players breaking down mentally, primarily because of the fear that if they don't perform there existence as cricketers might be in question? This is precisely what is happening to Kaif and to some extent Sehwag. Ganguly's treatment was the extreme manifestation of this draconian undercurrent that has gripped the Indian establishment. Soon we are going to have players who will not see their international careers extending more than a couple of years because they know that eventually they are going to be replaced, summarily. The Indian team sadly, will seem more like a display of the cliched musical chairs than a world beating, self-sustaining, cricketing organization.

The article is in good in parts. It is too early to judge the role of Chappell. He has been definitely instrumental in finding a couple of good batsmen and a crop of fast bowlrs for the ODIs and the bench strength has been built up. For tests,can we say the same. Except for new fast bowlders who have performed well, the benchstrength of batsmen seems to be poor. This is compounded by the failures of Laxman and Sehewag.

A lot of words without any meaning or statistical backup is worthless.
Over the last couple of years - our senior heros - Sachin, Saurav, Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman have been less than their normally brilliant selves. More often than not India has found itself 3 or 4 down in no time in Tests. The new boys like Dhoni, Pathan, Bhajji and Kumble have come to the rescue innumerable times. Now these newbies are saving our backsides in One dayers as well after top order collapses. So I think Chappel has to get credit for this. I also think that he need to be blamed for not analysing and helping our senior pros come out of their slump. Or if he is, it is not working.

Guys first of all India is wasting too much time on cricket. Cricket is hogging every other sport. I feel ODI should be given more importance just like today. I dont c any point in wasting 5 days for a reslut which is dull draw. We can win world cup by playing ODI not test cricket. My wish is to ban test cricket and play more and more ODI and 20 n 20.

I think Chappel has produced results in One day format. But Ganguly should be given his due atleast couple of times in one day format. He is not a fluke like Veeru as he proved by scoring 10,000 already. I called veeru as fluke as he is similar to Afridi. We neeed consistency rather than extreme players. He never played good on South African Pitches and Australian Pitches. If he a good player he needs to prove there and recently Pakistan and England proved his weakness.I agree his big hundres on flat pitches. Even on those pitches Tom, Dick & Harry can score.

Coming to test analysis, Once again I would not favor Veeru. I would prefer Kaif as he is more technical and doesnot give away his wicket. He is more secured player. I agree with his present form, class players go thru that. His real innings was in the world cup again Pakistan giving solid support to Sachin and ofcourse his big one is Natwest. Laxman is another casualty, i feel sorry for him. I feel test Matches are won by 6-1-4 players rather than 5-1-5. You win 5-1-5 only when you have players of westindies of 70's ad 80's not like out veeru who ties to hit out every time. I am not agianst his batting as I enjoyed him but as Vice captain he needs to be more resposnible and mature like Younis Khan and Jaywardene.

I just want to add to the comment made by Sitaram about test cricket. With all due respects my friend I dont think you realize or understand the game of cricket. If you think one day internationals is the game then your idea and knowledge about cricket is shallow and dull. Test match cricket is the biggest test of skill and ability and it is what players are remembered for. You will always remember a series like India Australia in 2001 of Ashes 2005 but will you remember this current series between India and England in 5 year. I do not think so. Ask any current indian player. They care more about their test records and a test series victory in Australia will mean more to them than 10 ODI series wins.
Lucky for us that most people around the globe dont share your sentiments and the ones that do will never understand this great game.
Test cricket will move on and continue, if there are poeple that dont want to watch them then the game does need them.

malik has hit a few nails on the head. but he hasn’t dissected the one day “success” too closely.
What do we have in this indian one-day side? a non-existent top order; pathan coming in at 3 or 4 every other match (remember, we don’t know yet if he will get runs abroad); an otherwise classy yuvraj who is extremely susceptible outside off and to the moving ball; a promising raina who’s not been tested outside the subcontinent either; and a kaif who doesn’t know where the next run is coming from. against top pace, dhoni seems to be blowing hot and cold.
as for the bowling, only harbhajan is anything like consistent, assuming powar will have to wait his turn to play abroad. we never know which pace bowler is going to turn up on a particular day (with 4-lines-an-over agarkar still a fixture!).
before jumping on me, consider that it’s not sehwag’s lack of runs that’s worrying but his jack-in-the-box act against short balls. sachin has been a half-step too slow for a while now except briefly, it seemed, against the lankans. we don’t know how much he has left in him though even at 50% he’ll be a pretty handy player.
true the coach can’t do much about the fixtures and india has been winning recently. but wait for results outside the subcontinent before heaping even backhanded praise on arrogant-pompous chappell.
meanwhile, get him off his high horse and the scheming. and, slap him on his wrists the next time he shows a finger to the public.

yaa......to a certain extent i do agree with you.Like the axing of ganguly and laxman from the test side. But overall they have performed well.From the previous record of test matches, india have not gone any worser.

ODI team rocks. Though i still feel.....without ganguly indian ODI team is incomplete.....

Imagine a batting line up like -
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Dravid
Yuvraj
Kaif/Raina
Dhoni
Pathan
Agarkar/Sreesanth/Munaf/RP
Harbhajan
Powar

does Indian ODI team get any better???

This post is same as the ton of crap at cricketnext.com (Jhakas!).
Is this part of cricinfo's plan to get cheap attention or what?
I blame Dravid for not realizing how costly home defeats could be and choosing to bowl in the final test. People like the author don't realize that this is part of Dravid's plan for the West Indies series. He wanted to test the bowling line up that could do the job in WI. For him winning away is the only thing that matters right now. But people like the author are so narrowed minded in their devotion to Ganguly that they suddenly have discovered new found love towards Laxman!!. If you read similar toned articles elsewhere you even find a mention of Kumble's name in this regard!, when in fact it was Ganguly who kept Laxman and Kumble out in the first place.
So please stop this kind of cheap articles. Dont destroy cricinfo by publishing this crap. Is cricinfo doing so badly to stoop to this low level?

Dear Malik,

Its preposterous to call Pathan, Dhoni and Raina as bits and pieces players. Pathan should increase his pace, but so was Flintoff when he first came in. Gilchrist was no better than Dhoni when he entered. If Gilly and Freddy are legends of the game, then so will Pathan and Dhoni be if properly handled.

I accecpt Laxman is roughly handled, but to win a test match, we need 5 good bowlers. and to have than, we have to drop one bastman. Since Dravid should not open( as he is the MVP and not worth it) we needed to drop one middle order bat among Dravid(best batsman), Tendulkar (Demi-god), Yuvraj (averaged around 100 in test & ODI's) or Laxman.

I'm sure Laxman wud return back and will get centuries in WI's to help team win.

Be Patient, Your defensive attitude to charade test loss and not appreciate mindset to win test matches is extremely disappointing.

Many people seem to think that the author is against Chappel. But there are certain facts that are hard to ignore. If Ganguly & Laxman fail just twice or thrice, they get axed immediately. If Kaif fails for 10 successive innings, and his scoreline reads like an intl. telephone number, he still continues in the team. If this is not favoritism by the coach, what is? Suffice it to say that the best men are not picked. No Indian cricketer will give up one form of cricket to concentrate on the other like Warne or even Afridi has done recently. Tendulkar has failed in almost all 4th innings chases since Chepauk 1999 against Pak. So, no wonder we couldn't win in Karachi or Mumbai. If any Indian captain wants to bowl after winning the toss in future, he has to necessarily keep this in mind. We are in danger of slipping from the 3rd position in the test rankings. Dont be surprised if we lose against West Indies who are even worse than Bangladesh at the moment.

This article is a load of rubbish.

1) Why would Greg Chappell want to scupper the test team? For money? That's ridiculous - not to mention insulting.

2) What test team has been "sacrificed"? India wins some and loses some, like everybody else except Australia, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Recent results are par for the course.

3) Who among the middle-ranked teams doesn't focus on trying to win the world cup? It's a potentially achievable goal, and one that kickstarts enthusiasm for the game among the young and the paying customers alike.

4) Teams use their strengths and try to cover up weaknesses. What's wrong with that? It has always been done.

I think the writer should look for more worthwhile (and positive) subjects to dwell upon

its very sad, that to make his point, the author has to blemish the personality of cricketing GREATS like chappel and dravid. comparing dravid to manmohan singh is the final straw . i submit that any objective criticism is more than welcome, but saying that either are spineless is pure cricketing ignorance.here s why

1.Anyone would think that its preposterous to suggest that the indian media is in awe of chappel... given the news reports i see ( eg. this post),i cant remember any other coach getting the same amount of criticism.

2.I am very sorry , but i seriously question the pedigree of mr.Malik to have the effrontery to question the independence of rahul dravid. never in the recent annals of indian cricket has any cricketer batted at any position in from 1-7 , kept (knowing he wasnt the best) , and picked up one day wickets as well.. apart from captaining the team , from all accounts admirably on the field.

remember sir, that he is the first captain of any victorious indian side in pakistan

3. what test team did india have for chappel to scuttle. admitted we had two good test series abroad in australia and pakistan. apart from that ?
hence trying to win tests abroad with a different strategy ( as teh one of 4 bowlers hasnt worked ).. is wrong??astonishing...

4. we have him questioning the talent of players who won the world cup in '83. cut the criticism mate.. it takes more than just honest triers to win the world cup, against the windies.. or maybe viv richards was just a crowd pleaser for u

5. i havent seen him burden the fast bowlers. rp, sreesanth and munaf have played 2 matches each in this hot odi series. pretty good management i should think.

6. as for the results in the test team.. we ve lost 2 matches and managed to draw or win the rest..and we played around 11 matches in that period.. tell me losing 2 matches out of 11 is a sin and the whole world will give you a pretty unflattering picture of your analytical skill..

somehow.. it seems that this article seems misguided.. its not consistent in either fact nor analysis..seriously skewed ...and unfortunatlely, very very undiplomatic as far as player characteristics and reputations are considered.

if you are expecting a merlin act , go read a book. this is teh real world.. no magic here .. just the intellect and sleightof hand of houdini..

free speech is encouraged , agreed.. but hypocrisy is irritating.. and an analogy to such a bad article in a reputed site like cricinfo..is like a good side like india losing a cricket test match at home..only the latters more tolerable and justifiably so

Without wishing to be rude, let me say that I'm surprised they publish nonsense like this on Cricinfo.

It is not Chappell's fault that the Indian domestic system produces players who lack a sound technique and are used to playing medium pacers on flat tracks. As soon as the ball moves or bounces, they are in trouble. Hand eye coordination is suddenly not enough. These same flat tracks also finish off any budding fast bowlers and produce spinners used to giving a lot of runs to get wickets. The cause of this problem lies much deeper than the national coach. No coach can conjure up test match victories when he is put in charge of people who lack the skill to cope with five day cricket.

And - the two or three spinner formula is no longer guaranteed to work in test matches in India. The better teams in world cricket have analysed past defeats and now play our spinners much better than they used to.

Lets face it - Nehra and Khan didn't quite cut it against quality test match opposition. They were too inconsistent and sometimes too slow to trouble top batsmen. Thye had to be dropped.

Similarly, Laxman and Ganguly had become liabilities as batsmen and as fielders- they had to go. This is not to say however that their respective replacements have impressed.

The answer is to improve the standard of domestic cricket. Its a long term solution but the only realistic one. Have 6 or 8 quality teams instead of 30. Prepare different types of wickets in different parts of the country. There is no point in blaming the captain or the coach for lack in quality.

And to cricinfo - stricter quality control please!

nurture munaf patel by not playing him on indian pitches, like we did earlier with javagal srinath. did it make him a better bowler?

also, tendulkar still has a great role in one day game.

moreover, ashish nehra just played 2 triangulars under chappel and he has his own fitness problems.......we can't accuse chappel for nehra's weak body frame. And ZAHEER , he's been blowing hot and cold after the Brisbane test down under. Chappel hadn't thought of indian coach job by then.

Now, mr malik, will you please tell what is wrong with ODI cricket. for me, it's the modern approach of cricket, where spectators don't have to wait for players to come from lunch, just 2 hours after the start of play.

Chappel has done wonder because when else did we see our team beating pakistanis so convincingly or chasing so efficiently.

BCCI did a great job by bringing him in and CRICINFO will do better if they can kick out some short sighted guy like malik

chappel has turned the team around since he's been around, why can't people understand that he has nothing to do with selection squad. if we lose chappel as coach it will be big blow for india in future.

This article is far far away from the reality.

Framing Pathan, Raina, etc as bits-and-pieces cricketer is disservice to their talents. Rather ... there's no bit-and-pieces cricketer in the current ODI team.

The top 5 are specialist batsmen and each of them can hold their own in the line-up solely on their batting credentials (each is capable of scoring a 100 and/or building an innings)

Dhoni is a decent wicket keeper (who's improving very fast on his keeping) and an explosive batsman.

Each of the 5 bowlers are capable of taking 3 to 5 wickets on their day.

So the bits-and-pieces argument goes out of window.

Now onto the Test team, we've very good fast-bowlers in the present squad (Sreesanth, Munaf, RP Singh, Pathan) ... they've shown better discipline (line-and-length bowling) and fitness (none of them have broken down yet). Zaheer, Agarkar lack badly in discipline (too many poor deliveries) whereas Nehra has had just too many fitness issues. So as far as bowling goes, Chappell/Dravid/Selectors have got it right (we've Bhajji & Kumble in squad and Chawla got his first chance recently ... so we're working to get more options in the spinner's dept).

Batting-wise ... every good prospect has been given enough chances or is being persisted with. The captain, coach & selectors are working hard on finding options who can play their part well (Jaffer, Kaif are being given opportunities and Yuvi has cemented his place in side). So where's the question of Test team being in shambles? It's not like we're doing badly in each & every test match.

A good article/argument should have good logic and numbers to back it up ... but this one just has lot of trashy allegations thrown in without any justification (logic? numbers?). Definitely a poor article.

Rightly said. Chapell is a big farce. the indian board hasd got someone who fits the bill of looking after their onfiled politics, while they unecessarily irritate lthe likes of dalmiya. chappell is nothing but a [Bleep -- editor] . he is a [bleep] who is [bleep] and he is busy [bleep]. chappell like any other aussie guy is not fit to be a coach. aussies just cannot be beleived aftre all they have a bad history.

We need to be very frank about the reason why the Indian test team is not doing well. Sachin Tendulkar. In the last 16 years, when he has struggled, Indian teams have struggled. Captains have been sacked. And when he has scored, even a combination like Azharuddin and Gaekwad has looked good!

well, i kind of think the author got carried away quite a bit. i for one, do believe that the teams, both of them, are doing well enough. ok, the test team isnt that great, but hey, they are still quite good. the onus is on the wc 2007 for sure, so let them concentrate on that. test team can follow later. seriously though, the author is sounding quite biased when he even says dravid isnt good tendulkar doesnt fit in etc etc.

I see this more as a "I hate white ppl syndrome". We have just won/drawn 4 straight ODI series at home and away. This was an acheivement that the great ganguly/wright combine did not accomplish.
The problem with India's test team is not about the coach. It is the out of form batsmen. When the test team drew in Aus and won in Pak the top 5 + Akash chopra pushed the opposition bowlers around. Now it is the other way round. That is not coach's fault.
Besides what is the great analyst talking abt Sachin not being fit for ODI. I expect cricinfo to have better analysts. Did this guy not watch the Pak ODIs. Out of 4 odis that Sachin played he got a 100, 40+ and a 90+. 2 of these games India won because of his contribution while 1st ODI he got a 100, he was given out wrongly by the umpire thus not letting him take india past 350 instead of 326.
This guy is not knowldgable enough to be commenting on anything in a portal like cricinfo.
I dare cricinfo to post this comment.

Well, I just have one comment. How come when we do get a whiff of a genuine all rounder, we start implying that we are turning him into a batsman who can bowl a bit??? Irfan has regularly taken wickets in his 1st or 2nd over which has hugely contributed to the smaller totals notched up against India in the One Days. We had absurd dreams of Agarkar being the next 'Kapil' and now that Irfan truly seems to be just that, we insinuate Chappell of ruining his bowling? Another contradiction is saying that Irfan is slowly fading away from being our Test strike bowler. Come on, I thought you said we should be shielding our bowlers from the Indian dust bowls anyway? And by the way, if the Munafs, RPs and Sreesanths will not bowl on Indian flat pitches, then are we going to request Kapil to do that for us at age 47???

Well I am avid follower of cricket & I like test cricket but really lets face it. Test cricket is not going to last long. Just look at empty stands for test matches. Well I would be surprised if I get to watch a test after 5 yrs. If its thing of past then why care about it guys? I guess in 5 yrs time 20/20 will be biggest hit let alone 50 over game.

I agree with your first comment that Chappell will not stay past 2007 summer. In fact i think there is a chance he may not stay for world cup if he sees that the Indian team will be outdone. This is very likely since SA,Pak,Eng,NZ are all capable of it with their pace bowling. I dont bother mentioning AUS, they always will.

I would say that our test failures are largely a result of how many watch/care about tests except for the most interested. Batsmen have less pressure to perform in tests, are trying to develop plans more suited to one day etc.

Perhaps Chappell focuses more on one day but isnt that what India (board and public) want ?

The fundamental worry i have is that one-day and 20/20 is going to make this game more about wild swishing and lot less about elegant batsmen. A la baseball swings.

Tendulkar has been much better one day player than a test player for as many years as he has played cricket.

Please don't accuse someone so badly, who has been trying to do something good for Indian cricket.

VVS Laxman has always been unlucky even before Chappell came in. He usually plays well against Australia and on the last match of any test series. His poor shot selection is one of the key reasons for his failure and no one knows when he is going to get out, at 99, 199 or 9

To Chappell's credit, he did try Laxman and Kumble in the one-day internationals. They were given opportunities in the IOC tournament and did nothing to prove their worth. This disproves the argument that he has something to do with Laxman's current state. May be some of the seniors are under pressure because of the emphasis on youth but if they cannot handle that pressure they should not be professional cricketers. Also, isn't this better than making them feel too secure?

The decline/inconsistency of Pathan as a test bowler is puzzling but cannot be attributed to his improved batsmanship given the high order he bats frequently. He has always been swing dependent and did get a hat-trick very recently in a test match.

I do not know if we can say that Team India declined as a test team. Granted the poor form of key batsman has something to do with recent failures but failures against pace and swing are nothing new to the team. With the exception of Dravid (and Tendulkar to some extent and Laxman occassionally) we never found a batsman of the caliber of Gavaskar, Amarnath, or Vengsarkar (without going too far into the past) when facing pace and swing are concerned. Remember there are no longer the Marshalls, Holdings, Garners, or Roberts to face.

Overall, the author is connecting unrelated dots and jumping to conclusions too soon.

I think this piece is a little naive. Let us forget

one-day cricket for a while, and look into the

so-called 'changes' Chappell has really made to the

Test team. Laxman has not been axed (if you

remember, he recently had scores against Sri

Lanka)...the team management wanted to play five

bowlers. That was not a one-day type move...without

formidable bowling, you cannot win Test matches.

And by the way, are you suggesting that Khan and

Nehra didn't have problems before Chappell took

over? We all knew how inconsistent and injury prone

both bowlers were, in spite of their great ability.

By ensuring an influx of young talent in the fast

bowling department, the team has merely ensured

that Khan and Nehra will have to work harder to

cement their place. The same goes for

Balaji...although he has bowled inspirationally in

many games (especially against Pakistan),

inconsistency was a major problem for him as well.

As far as the batting is concerned, Tendulkar is in

no way in trouble. Even Chappell, if you remember,

expressed confidence that Tendulkar would be back.

Dravid remains in the thick of things as far as

batting is concerned, as usual.

Now we come to the Ganguly issue...Chappell didn't

ask him to get out of the team, he merely said that

Sourav's captaincy may be affecting his form (which

was very true, by the way), and maybe he should

step down as captain. Unfortunately, Sourav's

aggressive nature got the better of him and

ultimately brought about his own downfall. Yuvraj

Singh, Saurav's replacement, is no one-day

smasher...he looks a complete Test batsman, much

like David Gower, and his century at Karachi was a

treat to watch when everyone else was falling

around him. Dhoni, the other new sensation, needs

some time to develop into a Test batsman, but he

certainly has the talent, and frankly, if you look

at the other alternatives available, like Parthiv

Patel and Dinesh Karthik, two guys not even half as

good, I would certainly go with Dhoni.

So there you go...Chappell hasn't done anything

wrong to the Test side.

Very hollow statements.
Wonder how this article made it to cricinfo.

Chappell has done a great job. India were disappointing and declining for too long, the spunk had gone. He has been strategically bold and agressive in both tests and one-dayers. He has made dififcult selection decisions and blooded and developed the young guns. There have been some painful times, Karachi and Mumbai, but sometimes one step back can mean two steps forward. Getting things done and moving forward is hard work in India. We should try and understand the failures (so far) respect the progress to date, and give him more time to mould a new attitude and team. The batting legends are in decline and we need to develop a new quintet of bowlers that can create fear in the opposition, that is a hell of a challenge.

I wouldn't agree to what Mr.Malik says in entirity. But I would like to ask every cricket follower of India - how many time have we read Mr. Chappel harp about his vision 2007? I guess the answer would be numerous times. But did we ever hear him mention about taking India to become the world beaters in Test. Never. His focus is World Cup and he is a shrewd business man, he know though Test Cricket is the real think, there is not many purists alive to cherish the naunces of the slow paced game, and the moolah and glamour is in the Fast paced game. Who has the time to follow a game that lasts for 5 days.

Moreover though we go gaga over Indias success in Oneday cricket, lets not forget that India has played only in the sub-continent and against Srilanka (since when has they played well outside Srilanka), Pakistan (without Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi) and England (can we call it England A). The season with South Afica was a draw actually. So lets wait for some real test of team India in foreign land. Then only we would be in a position to decide whether Indian cricket has moved any further that where it was under a forgotten person Sourav Ganguly.

This article hits the mark. Chappell is only in India only to create his own legacy and earn lots of $$. He's is a canniving individual and represents the lowest of lows in society. Too bad the Indian public will not realise until its too late. While Greggory "two-faced" Chappell is there, I will never support this team!

I hope the author lacks clarity in thought. We Indians love to play the play the blame game. When you prefer Chappel to Mohinder Amarnath or Tom Moody as a coach, there u are. Just want to spend more after big names. And how long u want to worship arrogant lazy Indians like Ganguly, who helped the Chappel deal click eyeing his personal benefit (which did not turn out in reality, because Chappel too want to be a King dethroning the Maharaja). Besides, don't ever dare to call Robin Singh, the fighter a bits and pieces player. Hell with the bunch of jokers (selectors) who never allowed him to play Tests. Friends, when we judge or pass comment, let's be impartial and bias free. If u don't have the guts, why blame Chappel, who too wants his share from Bank of CCI (BCCI what else!)like Mr More (too much!) & Jaggu Dada.

Rajesh

"Chappel like any aussie guy is not fit to be a coach?" Well, ask any Sri Lankan in the world, any Bangladeshi, and they just might disagree with you. "Aussies just cannot be believed after all they have a bad history." What has that got to do with anything? Other countries have far bloodier and more violent histories than ours. Look at South Africa, now; are you automatically going to accuse them of lying every time they open their mouths? I don't pretend to know a lot about Indian history, but I can only imagine what you have to be ashamed of. So to put it mildly, you are a sanctimonious hypocritical sonnova...er, gun, and if you do have to write that drivel, could you at least pretend to know what you're talking about?

This article plainly relies on cheap sensationalism (with phrases like Suresh Raina is "incremental anything").

Greg Chappell appears to be very much customer focussed which he should be, given that "aam janta" in India do not seem to have must taste for test cricket. Moreover, India haven't done too bad in test matches in general to warrant a summary execution of Greg as has been proposed in this article as a "cure-all" remedy for an Indian team whose ailment has been diagnosed by a quack doctor like Ashok Malik.

And Mr. Malik, please explain: "India is currently no. 3 in the ICC ranking in both form of the game."

The true test of team India and indeed G Chappel will be when we lock horns with the Aussies in Chappel land and a full strength England in England. Indeed that was Souravs crowning glory. But for the fact that the team choked in Sydney, Sourav's boys almost pulled off the near impossible. Largely through Ganguly's own performance in Brisbane and a large part of the series as Captain and batsman. Chappel has attempted to write Tendulkars' obituary more than once with facile comments that Sachin has a role to play as a 'mentor' - remember, so did Ganguly. What about Sachin the batsman? Viru is struggling and as the writer pointed out, very Special Laxman is totally unsure of his role. Bhajji through sheer grit, is hanging on. Kumble is a great exponent who does not need Chappell. The interesting question is, what role does a coach play in Cricket? I was hoping that Greg would articulate and elaborate that a bit more clearly. As the writer pointed out, some times one does get the hint of politics, albeit unwitingly.

Sure. While we're at it, did anyone know that "Greg Chappell" isn't Greg Chappell's real name and that he's actually a CIA mole?

Ridiculous. That's the first thing that comes to my mind when reading this article, and some of the comments.

I fail to understand the whole "cult of the personality" which Indian cricket followers seem to be utterly beguiled by. When it comes to Ganguly, one only needs to look at his record - a test average of under 41 (and a full 4 points lower for tests in India), and one century - count 'em, ONE - against Australia in 16 test matches. In these batsman-friendly times, such a record is never going to stand up against proper scrutiny.

His rabid defenders might wish to point at his similar one-day average, but the fact is that he is pretty much just a flat-track bully in the pyjama game, which his average of 22.31 (that's not a misprint) against Australia in 30 games will attest to. Sure, he can bowl a little bit too, but you can't carry an all-rounder in the side unless he can genuinely hold his place in at least one discipline - as the Australians themselves are discovering to their peril in their quest to find an antidote to Flintoff.

As for Pathan's situation, I find it puzzling that he gets promoted up the order quite so high as he does, but his results have been quite decent as an old-fashioned pinch-hitter. Does it affect his bowling? I don't really think it does, nearly so much as the conditions. Of course he will bowl better when the arena is conducive to swing-bowling, just as he will bat better when the ball isn't hooping around. That should be pretty obvious, and I don't think it reduces him to the "bits-and-pieces" role in which Mr Malik casts him. Certainly no more than Ganguly is a bits-and-pieces player - I know which one I'd prefer in my side, even casting aside their respective personalities.

Now to the crux of the author's article, his assertion that Chappell is killing the Indian test side. Okay, so they only drew with the English team at home - does it occur to anyone that perhaps England isn't a bad side, and that Flintoff IS a genuine matchwinning player who their team will rally around? And the 1-0 loss in Pakistan, with that loss coming at the end of a series which could've otherwise been bottled and marketed as the ultimate cure of insomnia? Going back to the start of the season, they rolled Sri Lanka 2-0, and though it's barely worth a line on a news ticker, they opened the campaign with a 2-0 victory against Zimbabwe. So, when it boils down to it, "Chappell destroying the Test side" is a claim based on a season where India have, shock horror, lost a whole TWO test matches. All while their trump for the past 15 years (that would be Tendulkar, for those cretinous "fans" who were booing him over the Indian summer) going through a form slump, similar to the one he went through in the series against Australia just before he hit a double-century against them in Steve Waugh's swansong. Please forgive me if I'm not convinced by such an argument.

I think we are not appreciating what chappell has done to Indian team. He has brought Indian team up to a level(atleast in ODI) which was never been seen in the past. Offcourse it makes sense when he is concentrating more on ODI coz the world cup is around the corner. Who cares about TEST cricket at this stage when you have WORLD CUP to WIN.
I think removing Ganguly from ODI game was the best decision ever made coz all he did was nothing comapered to his batting form and his captaincy. I do agree he was one of the best captain for India but we cant everytime hold on the past. We have to move on otherwise we will end up no where...
Cheers!

What a nice exercise of convoluted reasoning. Going along same lines, I can just as easily establish it's your fault that India's not doing so well in Tests, Malik.

Anyway, this whole discussion's a little pointless. How many Tests has India played (v ODIs) since Chappell took over? It takes time. Yes, India's not done great, but it's not like they're scraping rock bottom. Things will turn around soon enough.

i think gregg chappel is a assassinate and he shoots ex-cricket players in his backyard. I love ganguly!

Chappell's effectiveness can be questioned, but not his aims. He will go to any lengths to win India the World Cup, including sacrificing Test ranking, and/or even dropping the most entrenched of players. Whether that is regarded to be good or bad will depend ultimately on those few games in the West Indies that 'could' see India bring home the trophy. If they fail, Chappell may go down as another 'mad' coach like RSA's Jennings.

I wonder why the author has not responded to a single comment. Some comments here raise good questions and I am not sure whether I should post my comment if the author does not even care to read it.

I don't agree with the author comments about Sachin not fit into the one-day format. He is the best batsman when it comes to one day cricket. Recently, 3 matches back he played one of his best innings (95 vs Pakistan in Karachi or Lahore) . You are lowering his value as the younger players are bringing victories in the recent matches. First of all the pitches are flat and we cann't make sure that these young players will cope with all kinds of players in all conditions. He is a sort of player who gives perfect start .

Atleast from now till the world cup Chappell should stick to the current bowlers and stop experimenting. The new bowlers hardly have 10 matches experience. I feel due to the over-burden on Irfan Pathan he has lost his verve in his bowling. Why is he always trying Irfan at the one-down? What is Agarkar doing? He is no more a strike opening bowler for India. If he there in the team he should be utilised for some other purposes. What happened to Balaji and Nehra? They really are good bowlers and they deserve chances again? I hope the selectors consider them for the tour of West Indies.

I feel sorry for Laxman in Test Cricket (not in one-day cricket). He deserves the place in Test team even if you are going with 5 batsman. I hope they consider his experience in West Indies.

the test decline started with the visit of australia in 2004, a year before chappell came in. the key batsmen (apart from dravid) have been fighting form/ injury, etc. in fact the last year of wright/ ganguly was poor (post pakistan 2004). the malaise is much deeper than what a prejudiced writer with a narrow point of view can fathom

I'm stunned that cricinfo can infact post such a biased and melodramatic article that completely lacks reasoning. How can he blame Chappell for the Zaheer or Nehra debacle? Does he mean to say that Chappell is responsible for their continual lack of fitness or lack of form? Wasnt Zaheer given enough chances to make his comeback after being sacked for bowling poorly and unpurposefully!! And as far as his description of Indian One Day Players goes, I'd never agree that they are bits and pieces players. Come one: Irfan is a tremendous swing bowler who's developing into a genuine all rounder. Would he call Flintoff a bits and pieces bowler who can slog a bit?? or in that case Andrew Symonds?? And even the rest of the team is made up of fantastic specialists who are improving their skills. Would you ever describe improving a batsmans bowling or improving a bowlers fielding, as converting them into bits and pieces cricketers !!!! Never!!! Furthermore, stressing that Sachin isnt good enough for One Dayers lacks perspective. Hasnt he seen the Pakistan ODI's just a few months ago?? Sachin was one of the key contributors.
I believe that if the author could have used his analytical skills into constructive and reality based writing, his article would have come off very well.

Its unfortunate that a reporter has to take a sling at everybody in vicinity,just because no one else has!!
Though there was some truth in the article,chappel does have his priority on the world cup,did anybody say that was a secret??With the world cup around the corner,why shouldn't it be that way?If ur English your incomppetence can be told in stating anybody can win the world cup(they english have not won it yet),so its not their priority.
Laxman has performed better than shewag has in the recent years and every match we won overseas was because of him or dravid.why so much emphasis on him,when shewag cant score runs??Our top order is failing at the moment..thts all.nothng to worry,next overseas tour against stable test nationss will give the verdict.

o Suddenly senior players lost "security" (in the words of Harbajan)
o Suddenly your fielding skills become important (you simply can't do fishing in the field)
o Suddenly, likes of Tendular/Sehwag (forget about Ganguly) feel the pressure of performce

I can go on...

Only time will tell. First lets win any series against the Aussies. That has always been the goal, to top the world. We have been number two under Saurav and with John's help. Greg wil earn respect only if we achieve what Kapil achieved. Playing any of the other teams (if they are not C grade, who is?) is waste of time. I guess confidence builders, thats all. Win 2007 or not, whats more important is being invincible like the Aussies. It is nobody's fault but Gregs and Dravids if we fail to achieve that goal. The same people who were ready to blame Saurav and John for our failures are reluctant to blame Greg for any shortcomings. But, lets wait and see if Malik's argument holds. I suspect it will.

In the ODI world, the only question that matters would be 'Can India beat Australia?' Still the answer is No. (Same will go for tests, but thats for later) Chappell is doing a good job in infusing fresh thought processes for one days and we are slowly getting there - to beating Australia.
Chappell is not my favorite either - after making a remark that Ganguly stuck to being captain for money - But he has enforced professional principles that John Wright merely touched upon.
As for tests, Indias failures are attributed more to a few individual performances rather than the coach/team.
Lastly, he has the best chances to revive Sehwag and Kaif out of their wretched form.
And please - Tendulkar may not be the finisher that Dravid (or more recently Yuvraj) is, but he is the excellent starter. He sets the tempo for the rest of the innings. And then theres the vast pool of experience and inspiration that he brings in to the field.
I see that not many people have the bad taste of Chappell-Sourav lingering. And these kind of articles only fuel it.

I could not agree anymore With Mr. Malik. That is an excellent assessment of Indian cricket team's so called fortunes. Its no hidden fact that Indian cricket team has become a laughing stock in test matches, while there is not much substance in Indian ODI victories either. They drew 2-2 against SA, Won against lowly ranked SL. Won Against a Weak Pakistani team without their best two players( Afridi, Shoib), and Won Against a 'C' class English team. India has achieved nothing. Let’s do not forget India has not won a test Series outside Indian Subcontinent since 1986. Just on other day some Shane Bond had reduced Indian batting to a laughing stock in Zimbabwe. I just can't see Greg Chappel hanging around too long with this Indian team or India winning the world cup. I mean can India really win World cup? At end of the day like always India is going to lose in World cup. Lose its formidable batting line up due to no succession planning and become even bigger joke in test cricket.

Chappel should be fired A/S/A/P. Ganguly should be brought back to team. Chappel is living on Ganguly's glory. Players like Yuvraj, Kaif, Sehwag, Dhoni, Pathan were introduced and mentored by Ganguly.

Ashok Malik's article is a very coherent insight into Indian cricket team’s near future. Its a well known fact that Indian public starts having honeymoon period after few victories. Indian cricket fan’s need to wake up and smell fresh coffee- Can Dhoni, Pathan etc can really produce goods on seaming, bouncy tracks? May be or may be not! But one thing is for sure Chappel has destroyed India’s excellent test team that was closing down on Australia.

We can't be so critical of Chappell as is Mr.Mallik. Yes, India is not doing that well in test cricket, but how many tests India lost under Chappell, just two, India won 3 and drawn 3. So, record is not that bad. Question that everyone might have is, are we seeing an upward trend in Test Performance, answer to that will be No, but if we have our players Sehwag, Sachin, Laxman and Yuvraj improve their form and focus to back up ever reliable Dravid and add talented Dhoni and Pathan in the mix, we might still see another 2-3 years of good run in Test cricket. And now if we add the brilliant one day victories then we are definitely looking at a coach who is trying to take the team forward, as we all know India was number 7 or 8 before Chappell took over, now if we are number 3 then we should give the credit to Mr Chappell. It took John Wright almost 2 years to make India competitive in Test cricket, so why are we so impatient with Chappell.

8 Games and no double digit for kaif, A year now and no century by Sehwag. kaif still given a Chance and Sehwag still opens for India. Sachin is going through the worst batting form ever and he is still in the team.
If Gangully is not given chance by so called Guru just because he is having bad form then what about the players i mentioned above.

Why these players are in and Gangully and Laxman Out??

Almost 90% victories in ODIs coming batting 2nd, What is Mr. Guru doing about Pop Corn Bowling Attack.

Take a life Mr Malik.

This is one of the most short sighted observation I have seen for while.
Just look at the bowling reserves at this point in. You have Munaf, Sreesanth, RP and VRV Singh. Atleast we have started looking for replacement of no more than club class bowlers like Zaheer and Nehra. I give Mr Chappell all credit for challenging mediocrity. Give him time. You cannot get rid of some of the superstars overnight. By the way we are not a great side in a Tests because of some of the superstars who simply refuse to perform under pressure, Chappell or no Chappell.
Atleast he has started the process of weeding them out.

"Gilchrist was no better than Dhoni when he entered"

Not so Vijay! Gilly scored 81 on debut, then scored 149 not out in his second test, after coming in at 5 for 120 or something close to it, helping Australia chase down 360 odd to win the match. He's averaged around 50 or better ever since...

I think we should put the England series behind and start the preparations for the world cup real serious.
West Indies tour will help no doubt to get a feel of the wickets where they will play the world cup and all our subsequent practices must be done intensively on a few pitches specially prepared similar to West Indies pitces so that our bowlers and batsmen do not suffer from unfamilirity. BCCI must come forward in this and spend whatever is required.
The second action should be to get a specialist pace bowler coach for our young pacers. They have talent but not the bite or the killer instinct and they get disheartened in our flat pitches. The specialist coaching with right type of pitch will infuse more firepower and intelligence to use the variations as needed.
Finally, we cannot discard the senior players. Top order collapse has become a rule than exception.We have plenty of young talents, but we must try out few more experienced batsman in the top order to see if the rule of collapse can be broken. We should learn from Australia. Who snatched the voctory from Bangla Desh ?
It was two senior players- Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist.
The goal now is the World Cup 2007. Ego, rivalry, politics, everything must be pushed aside and BCCI must do whatever it takes to win the cup.
My observations are from the recent tour of England which has exposed both our strength and weakness. I would invite the cricket lovers to come up with the best ideas and develop a forum to push BCCI to take right actions.

lets just win the world cup and all of these comments and articles wont matter and i cant seem to find any logical reasoning behind ganguly's omission

Someone pointer out that we won test vs Zimbawe and also rushed out to convey ganguly's figures without the weaker sides. Hipocricy i think would be the best word to describr this.

i strongly feel that India has a very bad test side at present. Sehwag has become a hit-miss opener these days. We lost two matches only but hey look on the bright side in the matched we did manage to win against sri lanka and england it was the tail that did the bulk of the scoring not the batsmen. That too agains