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[caught and bowled]

Chappell on damage-control mission
 
Ashish Shukla
   
 December 01, 2006 21:02 IST

A frantic salvage operation is on by coach Greg Chappell to ensure the tour does not end up as a complete disaster and there is a turnaround in the team's fortunes sooner than later.

Chappell is having a one-on-one meeting with most members of the side, besides collective exhorting, in order to stem the tide threatening to engulf the touring Indian cricket team.

The third successive loss at Port Elizabeth on Wednesday was as damning and morale-crushing for Chappell as everyone else. Insiders claim the Aussie has never been spotted so incensed and livid as he was that evening when India lost the series with a 80-run margin.

Chappell had asked his batsmen to last the quota of overs rather than go for heroics before the start of the game but as it turned out, the batters did exactly the opposite.

The Indians were four down for 39 inside the first 13 overs and by the time the final wicket of S Sreesanth fell, the side had been bowled out in 39-odd overs.

Chappell was highly upset, understandably so, at this capitulation but he kept his counsel to himself and is now urging everyone to give off his best.

His message is loud and clear to everyone in a team whose seniors have to be blamed as much as the juniors for the abject surrender in the series so far.

Since the start of the tour, and even before it, Chappell had made a number of moves to lift the side out of its morass.

If engaging sports psychologist Rudi Webster of West Indies before the tour was not enough, he showed a movie named "Miracle" to the entire side just before the tour opener in Benoni.

The movie documents the performance of a US team against USSR in ice hockey in 1980 where they won against all odds and in the process, a lot of sacrifices were made including the one on his personal life by the coach.

In the absence of Rahul Dravid due to injury, the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag too have not played the part which has accentuated the problem of Indian cricket team.

Sehwag though has reportedly thrown no tantrums at being stripped of vice-captaincy for the oncoming Test series.

The Delhi batsman is leading India in the absence of Dravid in the remaining one-dayers as well as the Twenty20 match scheduled later in the day.

Interestingly, at this moment the vice captain of the side is Sachin Tendulkar though VVS Laxman, who arrived here this morning, has been officially named as vice-captain of the Test series.

Tendulkar, whose disinterest in captaincy is long known, surprisingly agreed to be the vice-captain. Apparently the decision was taken after a meeting between the team management on its own. According to team sources, no opinion was sought from the selectors on the issue.


 

[undercover]

Cracks appear in team India

By K. MOSES

Johannesburg, Dec. 1: Sourav Ganguly may have pushed his way into the Indian Test team, but the former Indian captain is not too welcome by the men who matter in the Indian camp here.

Coach Greg Chappell was opposed to the former Indian captain being included in the side after the current players have been subjected to embarrassing defeats in the ongoing one-day series against South Africa, it is reliably learnt.

Sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India told this newspaper that the selectors did not concur with the team management on the Ganguly issue. Chairman of the selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar had a telephone conversation, not an argument, with Chappell and Dravid in South Africa, a top source said on Friday. "Both heard each other’s points patiently but Dilip had the last word," the source said.

Vengsarkar apparently told the Indian coach that team selection was the prerogative of the national selection committee and the team management would not have much say in it, more so since the side was doing so badly in South Africa.

Chappell is definitely not too happy with Ganguly’s selection and has told a journalist: "It’s good news, until he plays."

The Australian had kept to himself the whole of Thursday and did not even come down to the lobby of the team hotel, expecting to be besieged by reporters for his reaction.

If Ganguly gets runs it’s good for the team and if he doesn’t, he’s finished once and for all, is the perception of people who are against the Bengal batsman. The return of Ganguly has also raised concerns about a split in the team. Some team members, who had enjoyed his confidence and benefited during Ganguly’s regime, are thought to be renewing their loyalty, which is seen as a dangerous trend by insiders who do not wish to be quoted.

Then, the promotion of V.V.S. Laxman as vice-captain too was a stern message to the non-performing Virender Sehwag and has apparently not gone too well with the team. "Performance will be the yardstick and no one will be spared. This has been conveyed to Sehwag, who appeared more of a disinterested spectator than the vice-captain on the field," the source said.

But the cracks are beginning to show in the Indian team with the players divided over the decision. With Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mohammed Kaif and Ajit Agarkar forced to return after the one-day series, discontentment is brewing among the youngsters.

But at least the team looks strong on paper now with names likes Tendulkar, Sehwag, Laxman, Dravid and Ganguly in the batting order. And expecting Dhoni and Pathan to play supporting roles with the bat would not be asking for too much.

South African captain Graeme Smith thought as much. "Ganguly is a good player and lends solidity to the Indian middle order. He has got a lot of runs here (in South Africa) and we respect him," he said.

"I expected them to fall back on experience in the form of Ganguly and we will see how we can tackle them in the Test series. He fits into the team but it’s not a big worry for us," Smith added.

Smith hinted that he would order his fast bowlers to bowl at the former captain’s rib cage, a ball Ganguly is not too comfortable playing.

[dave_dj]

I am hearing about lots of divisions in the Indian team as I used to hear about long time back although I do not hear what the different camps are - hopefully this is not just self-serving speculation of media.   If it is true, this is extremely discouraging  and we need the captain to be a very strong, upfront and passionate leader.  How can we win a game if we are exhausted fighting our own demons?

[undercover]

I am hearing about lots of divisions in the Indian team as I used to hear about long time back although I do not hear what the different camps are - hopefully this is not just self-serving speculation of media.   If it is true, this is extremely discouraging  and we need the captain to be a very strong, upfront and passionate leader.  How can we win a game if we are exhausted fighting our own demons?

I am sure RD has those qualities …but the Problem is he is too much copy book style .For him GC is like his father he won’t cut  his line

[bouncer]

I am hearing about lots of divisions in the Indian team as I used to hear about long time back although I do not hear what the different camps are - hopefully this is not just self-serving speculation of media.   If it is true, this is extremely discouraging  and we need the captain to be a very strong, upfront and passionate leader.  How can we win a game if we are exhausted fighting our own demons?

I mainly fault Dravid for this. Knowing fully well that a good number of his teammates were indebted to Ganguly, he should not have so forcibly opined against Ganguly's recall at every opportunity.  There are too many SG loyalists in the team and they did not take it well.

And all of this boils over once the team starts losing.   

[sudzz]

I am hearing about lots of divisions in the Indian team as I used to hear about long time back although I do not hear what the different camps are - hopefully this is not just self-serving speculation of media.   If it is true, this is extremely discouraging  and we need the captain to be a very strong, upfront and passionate leader.  How can we win a game if we are exhausted fighting our own demons?

I mainly fault Dravid for this. Knowing fully well that a good number of his teammates were indebted to Ganguly, he should not have so forcibly opined against Ganguly's recall at every opportunity.  There are too many SG loyalists in the team and they did not take it well.

And all of this boils over once the team starts losing.   

I agree its Dravid's fault but not for the reasons you are saying.,...I feel its Dravids fault for not being able to win the guys over to his side.

As a captain he was well within his rights to stop someone from being a part of the team if he did not think the individual would fit his scheme of things but then the onus was also on him to ensure that the rest of the guys who stayed back came over to his camp which he did nothing to influence.

[undercover]

I am hearing about lots of divisions in the Indian team as I used to hear about long time back although I do not hear what the different camps are - hopefully this is not just self-serving speculation of media.   If it is true, this is extremely discouraging  and we need the captain to be a very strong, upfront and passionate leader.  How can we win a game if we are exhausted fighting our own demons?

I mainly fault Dravid for this. Knowing fully well that a good number of his teammates were indebted to Ganguly, he should not have so forcibly opined against Ganguly's recall at every opportunity.  There are too many SG loyalists in the team and they did not take it well.

And all of this boils over once the team starts losing.   

See what happened to VS ?   If you don’t agree with GC it will become attitude problem 
As someone mentioned there are some unpaid PR agents in the media to make sure that’s what it is...

DV shown lot of courage & conviction while selecting the team but he has to make it clear to the public whether the request to remove VS came from the Team management?  At some point we’ll come to know.

[bouncer]

I am hearing about lots of divisions in the Indian team as I used to hear about long time back although I do not hear what the different camps are - hopefully this is not just self-serving speculation of media.   If it is true, this is extremely discouraging  and we need the captain to be a very strong, upfront and passionate leader.  How can we win a game if we are exhausted fighting our own demons?

I mainly fault Dravid for this. Knowing fully well that a good number of his teammates were indebted to Ganguly, he should not have so forcibly opined against Ganguly's recall at every opportunity.  There are too many SG loyalists in the team and they did not take it well.

And all of this boils over once the team starts losing.   

I agree its Dravid's fault but not for the reasons you are saying.,...I feel its Dravids fault for not being able to win the guys over to his side.

As a captain he was well within his rights to stop someone from being a part of the team if he did not think the individual would fit his scheme of things but then the onus was also on him to ensure that the rest of the guys who stayed back came over to his camp which he did nothing to influence.

When that borders on being unreasonable, you can not be very convincing.....

You can not treat a respected former captian unfairly and still hope to win over the players whose careers were made in a big way by the ex-captian