Chappell must take the blame for India's debacle in the world cup. He is the coach and by virtue of his position he should assume part of the blame. With power comes responsibility. I will be glad to hear him accept the blame(for once).
When a team loses and gets into rebuilding mode, the coach should be the first to go. The fact that India lost against Bangladesh and Srilanka (poorly I might add) clearly shows poor strategy. The blame for the failure falls first on the coach, then on the captain and then on the other players (in that order). The team needs to be built from scratch and some tough decisions have to be taken...
The article tries to wink at the actual responsibilites of the coach by absolving him and squarely placing the blame on the players. Let me be very clear : The players style of play cannot be condoned. However, the coach is supposed to inspire the team and make them believe that his strategy will work. Clearly and absolutely, Chappell has failed in this regard. So has Rahul Dravid in his responsibility as a Captain. By ignoring this quintessential trait that a coach is required to possess, the author has only exposed the hollowness of his article.
I would like to reiterate that the first step towards rebuilding the team is to show the door to the current coach. Ultimately a coach's success or failure boils down to how much the team respects him and how well it performs under him. John Wright passed this litmus test but Greg Chappell failed it miserably.
