Greg Chappell - A Blessing In Disguise For Indian Cricket

This time I have chosen to express my views about the topic that I think would have been discussed by all the keen followers of Indian Cricket. The contribution of the former coach of India and legendary Australian batsman - Greg Chappell, to the Indian Cricket.

Greg Chappell was appointed as the coach of Indian team after the former Kiwi batsman John Wright, successfully completed his tenure and decided not to extend his contract with the BCCI as the coach of Indian cricket team. The process adopted by the BCCI for the selection of the next coach was a really lengthy but a rigorous one. A set of criterion was decided upon for screening all the candidates that had applied for the prestigious, but a very scrutinizing job. Also the BCCI had appointed a committee of former captains and players to help them select the right candidate for the job. The committee comprised of Venkat Raghavan, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. They screened each and every candidate, looked at their credentials and interviewed them. The committee finally decided on two candidates to be considered for the job, Greg Chappell and Mohinder Amarnath. Both the candidates were asked to make presentations pertaining to their future vision for the development of Indian cricket and how they could help the Indian team as a coach. Based on the presentations Greg Chappell was offered the job which he gladly accepted.

Greg Chappell had always been a very shrewd cricketer when he represented Australia and was known to do anything for winning a game. He was the captain who had ordered his younger brother, Trevor, to bowl the final ball of the match as an underarm delivery against NZ, to make sure the Kiwis were not able to score the required 6 runs from the final delivery, bear in mind not to win but to tie the game. This meant that Australia would go on to win the third match of the five match series to be played in the finals of Benson and Hedges World Series Cup in Feb 1981. The delivery was not technically illegal but was considered against the spirit of the game and since is considered as one of the most disgraceful incidents ever to have happened in the history of the game. Although he was considered a lesser astute captain than his elder brother Ian, he still managed to win 21 out of the 48 tests that he played as a captain, losing only 13. Since his retirement,he had been an Australian selector, a coach for Queensland, and a consultant for Pakistan's National Cricket Academy before becoming the coach of the Indian cricket team.

When he was appointed as the coach of the Indian cricket team, the team had been doing well under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly (one of the best Captains India has ever produced in my opinion) but had started showing loss of form in ODIs and had made a habit of reaching the finals of a tournament and ending up as the runners up, hence being tagged as chokers in the media. Ganguly himself was having a difficult time as a batsman and questions were being raised over his place in the team as a batsman. Chappell wanted to have a playing eleven selected on the basis of performance and not reputation and thus, was himself not happy with the selection of Sourav Ganguly. Things got worse between them and finally everything came out in the open when a letter by Greg Chappell to the BCCI about his concerns and the factions that Sourav Ganguly was creating within the team to keep his place, was leaked to the media. India were touring Zimbabwe at the time and Ganguly, to his relief, had scored a century, though against a weakened Zimbabwean side. BCCI finally acceded to Chappell's request and Ganguly was sacked as the captain and was unceremoniously (but justifiably) ousted from the team. Even Ganguly himself has stated that his only disappointment was with the way he was removed from the team and not why he was shown the door.

As usual there were huge protests, specially in Kolkata, by the supporters of Ganguly. The then chairman of the selection committee, Kiran More, had made it clear that Ganguly would not make it back to the team unless he gained his form and worked on his fitness. Rahul Dravid was appointed as the captain and India started really well under his captaincy. He too was impressed with Chappell's idea of selection based on performance and the ability of the batsmen to play at any position as required in the game. Unfortunately, the Indian players took it as a threat to their secured positions in the team and started to raise questions. Concerns over the coaching ways of Chappell were being raised from within the team. Meanwhile the team did really well in test matches, specially overseas where they won series in the WI, won a test in South Africa, drew a series against England but then had a tough tour against South Africa and WI in the ODIs, just before the 2007 WC that was to be held in the WI. Despite Chappell's efforts to prepare a young side for the WC, the selection committee surrendered under the pressure to bring back the players based on reputation for the WC. Obviously, Chappell was not happy with the team given to him but had no other option but to take the squad to the WI for the WC. What happened next will never be washed away from the memories of the Indian Cricket fans. India lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to crash out of the WC in the first phase.

As expected, fans back home were furious but unfortunately the blame was being put on Greg Chappell. Chappell had finished his contract and decided not to extend his contract as the coach after taking the responsibility for the abysmal performance in the WC. Before he left though, he submitted a report to the BCCI on his assessment of the players that he thought would be the future of Indian cricket team. He specifically mentioned that India were lucky to have found MS Dhoni, as he thought Dhoni was a really good captaincy material. He also mentioned that Suresh Raina was as talented as Tendulkar and should be given time to mature into a great batsman. Although Raina was not able to live up to the expectations and was rightly shown the door, he has come back strongly and has started to realize the talent that he has been blessed with. Dhoni has already proved how good a captain and a player he is, with wins in the T20 WC and the astonishing series victory over Australia, in Australia. He has improved by leaps and bounds as a keeper too. Dhoni has followed the same policy that Greg Chappell had initially embarked upon, rewarding the players based on the performance, as a result India has seen the rise of Gautham Gambhir who had been a consistant performer for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, but could never make a place for himself due to Ganguly's presence. Now that Dhoni has clearly told the selection committee that he wants a young side, and has done well thus far, it has proved to be the right policy to keep Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble out of the ODI side.

Having said that, I would like to make a point to all the Ganguly fans, who would say that Ganguly showed a lot of character by coming back to the Indian side and making runs consistently since his comeback. I agree, it was really heartening to see Ganguly show some guts to fight it out and come back to be on top of his game, but the only reason he was able to do so was because of Greg Chappell. Ganguly was ousted of the team and was as a result able to work on his batting, spend some time playing in the domestic season, working on his batting and fitness, which resulted in him regaining the lost form and making the incredible comeback that everybody has witnessed.

Indian cricket fans should be thankful to the former coach who fought his way through the traditional establishments of Indian cricket and changed the mindset of the selectors to focus on the performance rather than the reputation of the players. I hope that his contribution to the development of the new era of Indian cricket will not be forgotten, and will be and should be appreciated by the cricket crazy fans in India and all over the world.

25 June 1983 - Defining moment of Indian Cricket

25 years hence to this day, it is unbelievable that 25 June 1983 still remains the biggest day ever in the history of Indian Cricket. ODI number 223 still is the biggest upset and India's most memorable win. Yes, India did win the Prudential World Cup and created history which is still fresh in the minds of many Indians. The decisive moment when Mohinder Amarnath trapped Micheal Holding plumb in front of the wicket and what resulted was total chaos. Indian players ran with whatever memorabilia they could have viz. stumps, balls, bails etc straight into the Lords Pavilion. Few images of that win which are unforgettable are - Balwinder Singh Sandhu castling Gordon Greenidge with a big in swinger, Kris Srikkanth square driving Andy Roberts and later hooking him for a six, Kapil Dev running backward to catch the World Cup (yes. It was Viv Richards who was standing in between an Indian victory and defeat and was threatening to run away with the game), Kapil lifting the World Cup in the Lords gallery, Sunil Gavaskar holding Kapil's hands waiving the tri-colour recreates that magic.

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It was believed to be a mismatch and West Indies expected to pulverise the Indian Team which had few achievements in ODI before the series began. The only exception was defeating West Indies at Berbice by 72 runs. That was the only notable victory. India's previous disastrous campaigns are well remembered for Sunny Gavaskar's pain stacking 36 n.o. off major part of 60 overs. But the Indian Team under Kapil Dev were destined for great things. They started the World Cup with an unexpected win over West Indies which I believe gave them the confidence to match the strong West Indies team in the finals. India's road to final was not extraordinary but had important contributions from most of the players. Roger Binny and Madan Lal share the honours of being the highest wicket takers in the Prudential Cup. Sandeep Patil, Yashpal Sharma, Kirti Azad and Kris Srikkanth chipped in with important contributions at crucial moments. Mohinder Amarnath sizzled with both bat and ball in the semi finals and final. Gavaskar and Srikkanth gave a steady and important first wicket stand in the semi finals. Kapil Dev contributed with the brilliant catch to dismiss Sir Viv Richards in the final and with the bat in what is still the most amazing and most important one day innings in the history of Indian Cricket. An inning which any cricketer would dream of. An unbeaten 175 n.o. against minnows Zimbabwe when none of the other batsman were able to put bat on ball and hence saved India from an embarrassing defeat and paved the path to the knock outs. Syed Kirmani admits to have made the most important 24 runs in the same match when Kapil was going berserk at the other end. That innings really brought the self belief in the Indian team and they started believing that they could go on and win the tournament. Sadly the innings was not broadcasted because of a strike by BBC (the broadcasters)



25 years down the line when we look back, the summer of 1983 was more than a turning point in Indian Cricket and for more than one reason.

1. Indian Cricket started believing in itself and the win laid down a platform for many more victories like the World Series victory in 1985 down under. Kapil's Devils showed how to play a team sport where each individual felt himself to be a part of the team and it reflected in the performances.
2. It played a key role in popularising the sport in India. Colour Television had just entered Indian space an year before the World Cup. It helped to bring cricket World Cup outside England and Asia successfully hosted the subsequent edition. It was the first step towards India becoming a cricket superpower.
3. The achievements also inspired many fellow Indians to dream. Dream about playing cricket, emulate Kapil paaji when you have a ball in hand, play like Sunny Gavaskar. A young all rounder from Haryana inspired people from smaller centers to dream of making it big in cricket.
4. Cricket in India started to be taken seriously and the players started earning more as cricket brought big money into the country. In fact BCCI at that time had to organise a show by Lata Mangeshkar to raise money to pay the World Cup winning heroes.

But 25 year since that golden summer it is disappointing to believe that World Cup still remains the biggest achievement. Subsequent teams have failed to learn from the champions of 1983 and live the true spirit of the game. Sadly, intolerance and impatience is the new definition of aggression. Today players believe age and belligerence are a substitute to skill and performance. Teams with promise fluttered briefly before losing steam but there was the BCCI which was able to make the most of the popularity and became one of the richest governing bodies of sports in the world.  They made all the right moves when it came to unleash their clout and prowess making India the financial powerhouse of the world. But the fortunes of the BCCI and Indian team always suffered from perennial astigmatism. There have been flashes in the pan but the enthusiasm and hope fizzles out. The effort of the board has been too short sighted. Few innovative ideas which tried to bring a new dimension to the sport and propel the development process needed in the infrastructure to run the sport progressively and efficiently, unfortunately had to surrender to the monopsony of the BCCI. BCCI lost some of the jewels of Indian cricket to rebel league and the stand off even threatened to dampen the silver jubilee celebrations.

The silver jubilee celebrations at Lords were possible because of the ingeniousness of Kapil Dev and Sunny Gavaskar who tried to put aside the differences and celebrate a truly great moment. Now that we have rejoiced, Indian cricket lived another day, let us hope that by the time next celebrations occur, Indian cricket fans shall have many more joyous moments to cherish and savour. Team India might have won T20 World Cup, played out of the skins down Under and playing consistently with youngsters contributing to the teams success but let us hope this team will emulate the feats of the 1983 team and give us another moment to savour like the Kapil's Devils.

Curtly Ambrose - The Ultimate Bowling Machine

Immaculate line and length, speed fast enough to make the best of the batsmen hop around, height to gain that extra bit of bounce on the most placid of wickets, and a stare that sent a chill down any batsman's spine - that is what comes to one's mind when one hears the name Curtly Ambrose. Everything about this bowler from the small island of Antigua was big. A height of 6ft. 7 in. with long stilt like legs, long arms, humongous hands which made the cricket ball in his hand look like a ping pong ball, big staring eyes and yes the big lips than made one think what would they look like when they would be swollen!!!

With all the attributes for being a fast bowler, it wasn't cricket that Curtly loved as a sport when he was a young boy. In fact, he never loved cricket, quite an astonishing fact given the dominance of West Indies in the world of cricket at the time. He loved basketball and football. Despite the fact that he did not like the game, the physical attributes that he possessed were too obvious to be ignored and fortunately for us, he was forced by his village to play for his school. He played his first serious (with actual cricket ball and not a tennis ball) game at the age of 21 !!! Which by today's standards, is almost the age by which bowlers in India have represented their state (if not the country) in more than 50 matches! Fortunately, Curtly took it as a matter of pride to excel in whatever he did and as a result he took to cricket as a pure profession and aimed to be at the top of it. He quickly made his way up through the ranks, from representing his village in 1984, to representing the Antigua and Barbuda XI in 1985, and then making it to the Leeward Islands XI, playing alongside some of the biggest names in the West Indies; Viv Richards and Richie Richardson. He had a rocketing start to his career and was soon able to break through into the West Indies team in 1988. He was now in the team that had the famous fast bowling attack headed by Malcolm Marshall, who was joined by another upcoming bowler at that time - Courtney Walsh, with whom Curtly would form a formidable pair for the next decade.

Any young bowler would have struggled to keep up with the pressure of being a West Indian fast bowler and the reputation that was associated with it. But Curtly took it as a challenge, of not being the weakest link in the West Indian bowling attack. He was a quick learner and acquired as much as he could by watching and speaking with Marshall and Walsh. He honed his skills under their watchful eyes and soon acquired the skill of bowling the nagging line and length to the batsmen that he later became famous for. His desire to be on the top of his profession made him the most aggressive and meanest of fast bowlers to have ever represented the West Indies. His duals with the Waugh brothers are legendary, specially the one with Steve Waugh, where both the players were seen eyeballing each other only to have Richie Richardson, the then West Indian captain and a good friend of Curtly, to drag him away to prevent any mishap. Steve Waugh has later mentioned about the incident in his autobiography stating that it was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made on a cricket field and for a moment feared for his life. He also went on to say that Ambrose was the best fast bowler he had ever faced.

One of the defining moments of his career was the spell of 7 for 1 (Yes, its 7 wickets for 1 run !!!) that he bowled at the WACA (Perth) against the Aussies. He had not bowled well in the morning session and knowing the fact that his team relied on him for a comeback, he bowled the devastating spell after the lunch. Aussies were all out for 119 and the Windies went on to win the game by an innings inside 3 days. Another of his many outstanding performances was his effort of 8-45 against England in Barbados, where the Windies were trailing 0-1 in the series. The effort won them the test and helped them to carry the momentum into the final test to win by an innings and keeping their record of not losing a series to England in the West Indies intact. There was also the unforgettable demolition of England at Trinidad in 1993-94 where he took 6-24 to skittle England out for 46, the lowest total in the history of test cricket at the time. He always enjoyed bowling against England and also against the Aussie in Australia. He never lost a test match playing at the WACA, Windies won them all when he played !!!

There was also another incident that comes to the memory, an ODI between Aussies and the West Indies, where Dean Jones asked Curtly Ambrose to remove his white wrist bands, as he claimed, were making it difficult for him to spot the white ball coming out of Curtly's hand. Curtly had to, unwillingly, remove them and replace them with red ones. This angered the giant and he bowled one of his fastest spells in ODIs, Jones was lucky enough not to have faced him as he got out early to another bowler, but his teammates were cussing him for what he had brought upon them. Curtly was not only aggressive and mean but was also a very clever bowler, as was seen when he bowled a slower ball without any change in his action to clean up Ian Healy in an ODI. Healy was so undone by the change in pace that he was already through with his pre-determined hoick over midwicket before the ball reached him and was clean bowled. He was so embarrassed that he could only afford a smile and watch Ambrose laugh his guts out as he enjoyed it to the hilt. Another of his trademarks was his celebration after getting a wicket. The hand jiving wicket celebration, with his wrists twisted to make them look like wings of a dove and the high fives with all his team members.

Curtly had done it all, but the only regret that he had when he retired was not having won a World Cup, he came very close to realizing that dream in the 1996 World Cup in the Sub-continent where they suffered a heart breaking loss to Australia in the Semi Finals at Mohali, by 5 runs. He finally retired at the age of 37, on September 4, 2000 playing his last test against England at the Oval. He finished with the tally of 405 wickets in 85 tests with an astonishing average of 20.99 and 225 wickets in 176 ODIs with an average of 24.12 and a mean economy rate of 3.48 runs per over.

He has now started a musical band with one of his best friends and former West Indies captain Richie Richardson where he plays the bass guitar. He does not follow cricket diligently but manages to watch a game or two once in a while.

My favorite fast bowler, the mean bowling machine and professionalism personified - Curtly Ambrose.

New Zealand Tour Of England

Well, I have been looking forward to write blogs on the sport that I have played, loved and adored my whole life. I am a fan of the game and not a team per se. I do have a few favorite players but not just from India. Finally, with the help of my friend I now will be able to express my views in this world of blogs.

Let me start with the current series between England and the New Zealand. England has been the team of not so great players, that you are made to believe are or were great players. May be it has to do with them being the "originators" of the game. New Zealand on the other hand is a nation that loves sports, be it Cricket, Hockey or Rugby (Not necessarily in the same order). Despite having a really small population and an even smaller pool of players to choose from it is quite amazing the standard of cricket that has been on display by their team for the past decade or two.

Enough, about the history, lets focus on the current series where NZ have, once again, shown great character, a great fight in the second test but all being too flattering to deceive at the end. A lot was expected from Daniel Vettori on the final day of the test, with the ball spinning and gripping the surface. And with England needing a target of over 250, it should have been a good target to defend. Traditionally, Old Trafford has been the favorite hunting ground for Monty Panesar. And he once again proved that he is the best in England when it comes to spin bowling. He bamboozled the NZ top order and stopped them from getting an unassailable lead. This should have given the NZ captain a lot of confidence to win the game for his team on the final day of a test match. He had claimed a five for in the first innings stamping his authority on the English batsmen, but could not do much when a big effort was required from him on the final day.

For England, Andrew Strauss had a good game after a long time spent in the wilderness. He has at least managed to save his position at the top for a few tests. Ryan Sidebottom has been a revelation for England and has been rewarded for his untiring efforts last season with the Player of the Year award for England. Overall, it was an evenly contested test match that went to the last day and had all the attributes of being a humdinger but the expectations were too much and the pressure showed on Vettori and his men.

Looking forward to the 3rd test, England will be very confident with the win but would be looking forward to Kevin Petersen to score some runs as he has been out of form for a while. Also Paul Collingwood will be coming back from an injury and should be fresh and ready for the final test. England have found another prospective all rounder in Stuart Broad who has been successfully able to fill in the void created by Flintoff's absence. On the other hand, NZ have plenty to worry about, their batting has be erratic, James Marshall who was the most in form batsman during the warm up games has not been able to produce the same at the highest level, Ross Taylor needs to be a lot more consistent to do justice to his immense talent. The biggest worry for NZ will be the form of Jacob Oram, particularly his struggle against Sidebottom and the short ball. He did produce a great hundred under pressure in the first test but he has openly admitted of his problems against Sidebottom. One can only wish that he stands up to the challenge and raises his game to give NZ a chance at leveling the series.

As is the case in most of the matches that they play in, NZ will go into the third test as the underdogs (which they admit is a tag which they enjoy as it takes the pressure off their team) and England with a resounding win at Old Trafford, will be the favorites to win the series. So will it be another occasion where the Kiwis will fight hard but will still be short of pulling up a win or will the momentum take to a series clinching victory? Only time will tell.

One of the toughest fighters of all time - Steve Rodger Waugh

I start this blog as a die-hard cricket fan along with a very old friend of mine who is as crazy as me for this wonderful sport. We share similar passion for the sport which I feel is above any individual who has ever played cricket.

It was 1996 World Cup in India which really pulled me deeper into this sport and since then I have been an avid cricket follower sometimes following some of the most insignificant games between weakest nations but still there was fun in doing that. There are few players who have been my personal favourite since long time. I want to write first blog here on a player who I simply admire. It was a tough choice to select between these two fantastic cricketers – Steve Waugh and Brian Lara. Both have contrasting styles and different approaches to the game but both have been truly great players.

I decided to write on Steve Waugh. My decision may have been influenced because today being his birthday. But nevertheless he has been a legendary player with some terrific qualities as an individual. He had limited talent as a batsman but he maximised it. A player who was always susceptible to short pitch bowling throughout his 17 year long career but bowed out with 10000+ runs in his kitty. Though he was not very exciting to watch as a player but the number of valuable knocks he played for Australia makes him stand apart. He is an icon and a role model for many of his team mates. His trademark stroke - square drive which was not the best to watch but was very effective. He had his own share of superstitions as he always kept a red rag in his pocket and was obsessed with his 168-match old ‘baggy green’ cap.

As a player Steve Waugh left an impression early in his career during the 1987 World Cup when he played a major role as an all-rounder in Australia winning their first World Cup. Allan Border using him brilliantly as a bowler on slow low Indian pitches. Steve Waugh showed first signs of what a brilliant player he was to be and showed terrific temperament performing under pressure which has been a hallmark throughout his career.

Steve Waugh was very good at playing mind games which he used as an important weapon later in his career when he captained Australia. Some 13 years ago Steve Waugh was instrumental in changing the world order in cricket when an inspired Aussie team defeated West Indies in their own den. West Indies were never defeated in a home series for 15 years prior to that epic series. Waugh brothers were the chief architects of that historic win against an intimidating West Indian attack with Steve Waugh making a brilliant double hundred and his twin brother Mark Waugh making a scintillating 126. Steve Waugh took the attack to the opposition throughout the series and walked away with honours during that series which proved to be a tectonic shift in Cricket. He has played many such inspiring knocks.

There were innumerable instances where he proved his worth to his team. He reserved his best for England and was a nemesis for them throughout his career especially during the 1989 Ashes. He played another gem of an innings during 2001 Ashes when he had torn a muscle in his leg and could have easily sat in the pavilion. But he decided to grace the Oval crowd (incidentally this was his last test on English soil) with a chance less 157 not out.

Adversity brought out the best in Steve Waugh. That was the value he brought with him to the team. Some of his best knocks have been under tremendous pressure and he always seemed to make his wicket count mostly when the chips were down. Be it the 1999 WC Super Six encounter where he saved Australia (who were on verge of being ousted from the tournament) with a fighting 120 against South Africa in a do or die match. The match will always be remembered as Steve Waugh passing a mocking remark to Herschelle Gibbs - "How does it feel to drop the World Cup, Herschelle?". Australia went on to win the World Cup for the second time.

Steve Waugh captained Australia with distinction in both forms of the game and his captaincy moulded his Australian team into world beaters. He has been one of the most successful captains in history of Australian cricket. Captaincy also helped him become a better player. His team was instrumental in pushing the pace of Test Cricket as his mighty team won many matches well inside four days. It was this aspect of his captaincy which took the game of Australians to a higher level and made them invincible. He was never affected by the hype or media scrutiny which as a high profile captain he might have gone through.

Steve Waugh carried forward the legacy of strong Australian captaincy and led Australia to a record 16 consecutive Test victories which was halted by the Indians at the famous Test Match in Kolkata. But again in that match he fought hard and played with the tailenders to amass a huge total. His knock of 110 could not help Australia to a world record 17th consecutive win as he underestimated the resolve of an Indian team inspired by VVS Laxman which would go down as one of the few aberrations in an above distinction career both as a player and as a captain. He ended his career with most capped Test player making over 10000 runs with an excellent average of 51 and centuries against all Test playing nations.

He inspired his team on many occasions with his resolve and determination. Though his statistics would not reveal his true contribution in fourth innings of a match as he has only 2 fifties in the fourth innings in his entire career. But his mighty Australian outfit hardly played in 4th innings as they would finish matches much before that. It was apt that he played his most important knock in the fourth innings of a match in his farewell match at Sydney where he stood in between the series win for the Indian team with a solid knock of 80 which in a sense was a meriting culmination to a wonderful Test career.

Steve Waugh’s association with Kolkata has been a long one. Right from the memorable first World Cup win to the historic loss to India to his efforts to raise funds for children suffering from leprosy in ‘Udayan’, Kolkata. I am in total awe of this truly great player and an image which first comes to mind when I recall Steve Waugh is his ability to produce something special in difficult conditions. Steve Waugh is an icon in an era where his fighting contributions have been overshadowed by flamboyance and genius of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Mark Waugh. But in terms of value as a player and as a captain Steve Rodger Waugh would be much higher.