The latest crisis to hit Indian cricket might be a surprise to many people but i think that it was something that was always on the cards.When Greg Chappell was made coach, i remember having this conversation with a friend about how long he will last.Ian Chappell went on record saying that he would have never taken up this job mainly because of 2 reasons. 1. He would be expected to transform the team overnight 2.The political argy bargy that prevails in Indian cricket, which is no longer played behind closed doors. The way Indian players, Board and Management go about their business is nobody s secret. The inefficiency, ineffectiveness of the whole setup has made it a farce and something that ought to have been changed long ago.The fact that the cricket boards of countries like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have a CEO and the Indian board doesnt have one speaks volumes for itself.Talks of professionalising the whole set up have been going on for a long time but no efforts have been made in this direction and the results are there for all to see. Greg is a hard hitting, result oriented coach and there was no doubt right from the beginning that the "aussie way" would never go down well with the bulk of the players especially someone like sourav ganguly who is so used to bossing and forcing himself on others.
Greg Chappell comes with a huge reputation. He was1 of the greatest players that the game has seen and is a very astute and shrewd individual. There is no doubt that Indian Cricket will benefit greatly from his experience and methods, provided he is given leeway to operate.It is a great surprise to see many former players say that Greg should work according to the Indian Environment, which basically means that he should keep quiet to all the nonsense and turn a deaf ear to all the petty politics played around him.I am sure thats not going to happen and if common sense prevails, the board should back the coach they appointed in the first place, even if it has to be at the expense of their blue-eyed boy.
Coming to the other person in the eye of storm, Sourav Ganguly "Dada" is at the fag end of his career and he should quit gracefully like the steve waughs and Ian healys of the world. He played the whole game very smartly, he opened his mouth after getting a hundred (against a school boy attack) and then decided to wash dirty linen in public.Ganguly has been a good player for India in the shorter version of the game but the deficiencies in his technique and general lack of skill make him unsuitable for the test match version and this is a well documented fact. The days of " through the off side first there is god and then ganguly" are long gone and the only reason why he is keeping a place for himself in the side is because of his captaincy. He lacks imagination, respect of the players and the ability to react to situations which are prerequisites of a good captain. The sad part is that he is oblivious of the term "leading from the front", something which has made former players like Clive Lloyd, Steve Waugh achieve legendary status.At the bottom of his heart, he knows that he cannot keep a place in the team on the basis of his batting skills and thats why he does not want to renounce captaincy.The fact that he supports and nurtures youngsters in the team and also that during his captaincy, regionalism has ended are both valid points but they are not good enough to undo the wrongs.When a player of the quality of Laxman can be dropped then why should ganguly get special treatment? Averages of around 20 against Australia and 9 against Pakistan is an indicator of the fact that this bad patch has carried on for too long.A player is only as good as his last innings so the axe should fall on the captain s neck.But knowing the way the so called "people who matter" operate, a truce will be called between both parties and we ll probably see chappell and sourav teeing off on a golf course pretty soon.And Indian cricket will continue to suffer.....
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