We can go on and on about Greg Chapel's flaws in his tenure with our team however like you pointed out he did have a string of successes as well. Notably the ODI series victories against England, Sri Lanka etc BUT the major thing to note here is that they were all set up in our backyard - IN INDIA !
In foreign conditions our team has failed on numerous occasions. Recently they were drubbed by West Indies and South Africa. Following the West Indian ODI series defeat.. the team management should have moved up to RED ALERT. They never took the necessary steps to ensure Indian success overseas in challenging conditions. I don't wish to bring in the occasional victory here and there but the long term consistency. Nobody is expecting these guys to win every single match HOWEVER having said that they don't even demonstrate the charisma and intent that's needed to win matches away from home.
Speaking of Greg Chapel I acknowledge his tremendous achievements as a former player for Australia... both as a captain and one of the finest batsmen of his era but coaching is a different ballgame altogether. Ever since he took over there have been numerous reports of his lack of proper communication with the team members. Most notably who can ever forget his spat with Sourav Ganguly. Eventually that led to the expulsion of Ganguly and installment of Dravid as captain which I thought was the first slap across the face of India's blossoming future.
Ganguly led India with vigor and passion. His fighting instinct created an enthusiasm among the Indian team's brethren. It was as if they were pack of dogs fighting to grab a piece of the bone. How could any Indian fan forget Ganguly's buoyant shirt waving incident after winning the final game against England at Lord's in 2002 ?! Such antics made him ferocious in the eyes of the opponents and thats one major quality Dravid lacks as a captain. I have never seen Dravid animated or vocal on-field. He'd rather chew his finger nails than make an intelligent field placement or change in bowling. Such things all come under the so called *DO's of cricket*.
The most important thing for Indian cricket right now is NOT pure criticism. Yes criticism is bound to happen in a country such as India now that the team has been knocked out. However many important decisions have to be made and YES BOLD ones at that. Chapel's contract in my opinion should not be renewed. I have respect for him as a great cricketer BUT not as a good coach. Secondly the BCCI must bring in contractual system that it has been discussing for many months now. Under such a system the players are no longer retained under the pretext of past records.. rather its purely based on current form and merit of performance.
Thirdly, our domestic system needs a tweak. Indian players have traditionally suffered against the seaming/moving ball in places such as Australia, South Africa, England etc. We sho
RE:Key points for Indian cricket to consider !
by sandip darji on Mar 26, 2007 12:18 PM Permalink
Dear Jay..
I am agree to you in some sence, as a hardcore cricket fan. Cricketers must be banned from endorsement. It should be in there agreement to BCCI.
Dravid has the same record as the same of Ganguly by statistics. At the time of ganguly 38% of matches were in India. I accept Saurav has passion and good leadership. But, we already tested the Politics and somewhat rude behaviour from him. I don't think sachin is a good option. Yuvraj is still too immature. Sehwag is impossible. So who next? Dhoni is somewhat good, but he has to be much consistance. He should put as a deputy of dravid for some time.
All senior players must be asked. Whoever performs, should stay in team. Not only Sachin, I think Saurav too had not played well when needed. Look at his running between the wicket. Rest matches also he was looking like playing for himself, not for team. Dravid, Dhoni and Yuvraj too.
A overall rating to be generated based on Bowling, batting and fielding performance. Based on every month's rating, team should be selected. A fat test, Running test should be taken as an additional test.
I don't think after this much hustle and bustle BCCI will be able to take some hard step? Becaus the question is Who next????
