by things came together in cricket?
The Indian parliament wasted a lot of time, yesterday, bemoaning
India's loss at Durban. They could have better spent that time drafting
a five year plan blueprint (remember those sacred 5 year plans that
brought dams and public sector steel mills to India) for team BCCI with
Chappell in charge. The core of India's WC 2007 team may have already
been put in place many months ago, however comprehensive 5 year plans
still need to be put in place for the "process" to function in a way
that will please frivolous Indian cricket fans. Members of Parliament,
what are you waiting for?
-------------------------------------------------
Process-ion moves to Durban
Ajay S Shankar
Posted online: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email
India's tour of South Africa: Chappell defends his methods, declares
he will stick to them 'whatever anyone says'
Durban, November 20 : Walking straight into a giant Zulu warrior and
two *** dancers prancing around in what could politely be called
nightwear, you would expect Greg Chappell to reach for the smelling
salts. But within minutes of checking in at the Elangeni in Durban,
just months to go for his contract to end, Chappell was, well,
Chappell.
The coaching "process" he has put in place for the Indian team will
go on, he declared, "whatever anyone says."
With websites here still flashing comments from former skipper Sourav
Ganguly about that process, Chappell said, "Whatever anyone says, the
process is very important. It has been proven all over the world that
systems are needed, a process is needed to set things up. Otherwise,
you will have 'ad-hocery' and that will lead you nowhere."
Prodded to comment on whether his methods were more suited to coaching
Australians, the coach wrapped it up in one line. "If speaking the
truth in India is a problem, then Indian cricket has a problem," he
said.
But Chappell did agree that what is being done for the seniors will
just fade away if the juniors were not brought on board. "Ideally,
the junior cricket programme should go hand in hand with the plan for
seniors. If it doesn't, then it is fraught with danger. A feeding
process is necessary, because if it isn't, then it would create a
vacuum when senior cricketers leave in a bunch," he said.
Elaborating on the 'process' that has taken him nearly a year to
shape, Chappell said, "Countries everywhere, corporates, all use a
system. There are highs and lows in everything, you have to be patient
about things, you cannot afford to be too emotional, otherwise it will
lead you nowhere. In Australia, for instance, we started a process in
the mid-eighties, it took nine years for things to come together. The
England bowlers who won them the Ashes last year were the result of a
process that took five years."
Of course, he admitted, there was the odd occasion when that process
had to be adjusted - Zaheer Khan's return, for instance. "Now he
has to pick up what has been put in place over the last 12 months. It
has to be fast-tracked but he is a fast learner. I am glad that he has
come back in better shape and in a better frame of mind," said
Chappell.
Then there was this recent run after the West Indies tour where "we
got just 6 out of 13 games" to work on, after rains drowned the Sri
Lanka series, cut into the Malaysia tri-series and swamped the first
game in Johannesburg yesterday.
"I find that an astonishing figure. We have not been able to find any
rhythm. Besides, some of the matches we lost were very close affairs,
coming down to the last over. Yesterday was another day lost. It's
disappointing, but not a disaster. The boys have been working hard, and
I believe hard work always yields results," he said.
Finally, the Champions Trophy, and what many had suspected - the
11-day break after the win against England did matter. Admitting that
the gap hurt the team's chances badly, Chappell said, "We needed
another game soon after that win."
'After Kapil, Srinath, it's Munaf, Sreesanth'
Coach Greg Chappell is sure that after Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath,
India's best pace bet has been the duo of Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.
He also made two startling admissions. "Without Sreesanth, we could
not have won the Test series against the West Indies," he said,
adding, "And we could not have won there if we had gone with the same
combination we went with in Pakistan."
While Sreesanth had rocked the Windies in the final Test at the Sabina
Park with five crucial wickets, India's pace attack against Pakistan
during the Test series last year-end had Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar,
Zaheer Khan and RP Singh.
Munaf, Chappell added, is one of the most exciting pace prospects he
has come across, though the Ikhar hero did need some more experience.
"He is still learning, but I promise you Munaf will be very good very
soon. It took England years to build a pace attack that regained the
Ashes. You have to be patient with the pacemen," he said.