The Stolen Time

The role of a coach is not only to train players but also to teach them how to behave in a team and it is his duty to take care of the f act that the dressing room controversies should not be made public either by him or by any other players. But what if coach himself is the reason of all the controversies .Their was a time in Indian cricket when coach was responsible for the controversies and a world cup 2003 runners up who were considered biggest threat to Australia were degraded to such level that it  got eliminated in the next edition of world cup. So what actually went wrong .

India’s most successful captain Sourav Ganguly  has taken a stronger move by opting for an Australian coach just for the betterment of his team Greg Chappell was the chosen one but similar forces repel each other and that repulsion started within few days after he joined .For the first time coach became more important than players and most importantly it was because of controversies the team was in headlines rather than play .Seniors were  clearly the target of him which include the likes of  Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid , VVS Laxman , Harbhajan Singh , Zaheer Khan , Virender Sehwag and of course Sourav Ganguly or in other way we can say the key players of 2003 world cupsquad .The downfall of this players started from there  only and it was after  his resignation that these players have made a comeback with a bang .  

The period itself have many unanswered questions but one fact that Greg Chappell should accept that team was actually against him and he should stop giving his analysis even after so many years that it was players who were wrong .

"Sadly the success of the team was not universally enjoyed within the team. Some individuals felt threatened by the new world order and appeared to work against Rahul , had he been given the same wholehearted support in the role that he had given others, I think the recent history of Indian cricket may have been very different and he could have gone on to become the most successful Indian captain ever" Chappell has written in his book 'Rahul Dravid - Timeless Steel' –is the latest controversy which he has ignited .Well ,all I can say is it was  Dravid’s bad luck that he was captaining India during that time and  second to Sourav Ganguly’s reaction to this that “ Chappell ‘s remarks do not bother any one “.However he might be right because the reason for Dravid’s resignation from captaincy is still a mystery but its better if such things are answered by the concerned person . The controversies which he creates are the unsupported ones and its better for him to learn from the other successful coaches like John Wright and Gery Kristen who commands respect in India.

Greg Chappell  just cant appreciate Indian’s with clear words even in his articles which are published in ‘The Hindu’ and his piece in the Timeless Steel is one in the series.