The exact same thing can be said about Chappell’s year and a half as Indian Coach. Early in his stint, Chappell laid out what he claimed were non-negotiable parameters, including fitness, and consistent performance. He wielded the axe quite brutally to put several Indian players out of the team. None more so than the then Captain, Sourav Ganguly, but also including, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble in ODIs, and Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, and Laxmipathy Balaji in both forms of the game. He made public much dirty laundry about the then Indian Captain, much of it hardly more than unsubstantiated accusations, but which the Indian media lapped up as the gospel truth and used to paint Sourav Ganguly, India’s most successful captain of all time, as a villain who deserved to be despised. The vitriol reached such absurd heights that a group of net-savvy “fans” started a web site dedicated to hating Ganguly. Even reputable media websites ran features asking readers to email them why they hate Ganguly, while others superimposed his image on a sinking idol of Goddess Durga, to imply his demise. In the Meanwhile Ganguly’s erstwhile deputy, Rahul Dravid slipped neatly into the role of new Captain.

It helped that Dravid was much less of an independent thinker without strongly held ideas about, and vision for, the team, as well as about the role that a coach should play. This suited Guru Greg perfectly, as he himself held strong ideas about, and vision for, the team and even more inflexible ideas about what the role of the Coach should be. However one thing that was apparent in all that Greg did was that his main goal was the 2007 World Cup. He was willing to sacrifice India’s performance in the Test arena as long as it was in preparation for the World Cup.

For a brief stint this approach seemed to be working quite well. Young players in the form of Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni and Irfan Pathan, seemed to respond to Guru Greg’s vision of a youth centric team in a very positive manner. And on the backs of these three key players India started winning a lot of ODI matches under the new team management. This brief honeymoon lasted until India’s tour to the West Indies. Sure, India stumbled badly in Karachi and then again in Mumbai to lose two Test matches quite ignominiously, but at least the performance in the ODI arena was superb. Or so it seemed to the average Indian fan, who did not bother about the nuances of what the standard or form of the opposition was, or whether the matches were played in the cozy confines of home or overseas. The euphoria of winning and winning ODIs consistently, especially while chasing targets, was quite heady. Saner heads warned that the team had yet to play strong opposition and in more trying conditions, but were brushed aside.

However the first foray outside of the sub-continent saw the Indian ODI winning machine came to a shuddering halt. A team at the bottom of the ICC ratings table, though one that was getting stronger, the West Indies under Lara, threw the first spanner in the works. And despite a credible Test win in the final match in Jamaica, the downward spiral in ODIs continued. India began losing ODIs with alarming frequency. The wonder boys of the beginning of Guru Greg’s stint, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan began to fail more often than not. Even the return of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar after a prolonged injury related time-out, was not enough to turn the team’s fortunes around. The loss in the Windies ODIs, was followed up by increasingly worse losses in the Malaysian Tri-series, The Champions Trophy and then in the bilateral ODI series against South Africa.

Guru Greg and Rahul Dravid, began to be questioned, first by the experts and then by ordinary fans who were amazed at the amount of chopping and changing Greg and Dravid did to the Indian batting line-up all in the name of experimentation, flexibility and preparation for the “Holy Grail” of a World Cup win. But as it started becoming clear that these were simply buzzwords to cover up a lack of clear thinking and strategy on the part of the management, the public began to get increasingly agitated.

After the loss in Malaysia, Greg Chappell said words to the effect that “winning or losing is not as important as finding the right combination for the World Cup.” The Indian public then began asking uncomfortable questions such as how come Australia tried out more players than India in Malaysia, and yet ended up winning the trophy? When later in the build-up to the Champions Trophy, Dravid, and even Dhoni began parroting this mantra that winning was secondary to experimentation, the public became increasingly skeptical. All the while this was going on, proven performers like VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan were being kept out, while non-performing youngsters like Suresh Raina, and VRV Singh kept getting the support of the management.

Finally the defeats in the ODIs in South Africa, mostly without any semblance of a fight, combined with a change in guard in the selection committee where the weak, vacillating, and obsequious Kiran More was replaced with a much more forceful and focused Dilip Vengsarkar, saw the Indian Coach have his wings clipped quite unceremoniously. When someone asked Vengsarkar how he thought Greg Chappell would react to the selection of Ganguly in the team he responded that the selectors were selecting a team for India, and not bothered about a particular individual’s likes and dislikes. He then added that he thought both Ganguly and Chappell were mature enough to not let this affect their working relationship. This was a refreshing change from the mealy-mouthed pronouncements that his predecessor More used to make, often reaching the heights of absurdity, with his obvious desire to please the Coach.

Under Vengsarkar, first Zaheer Khan and VVS Laxman for both ODIs and Tests then Sourav Ganguly for Tests were once again included in the team. But even that move was met with resistance from Guru Greg, who when asked about the selection of Ganguly quipped “It’s all good until he bats.” Hinting that he still felt that Ganguly would be a failure. However the BCCI was savvy to this antipathy and arranged to have Vengsarkar himself present in South Africa, to ensure that the animosity that Guru Greg obviously had for Ganguly, despite protestations to the contrary, did not influence team selection.

It was clear to Vengsarkar that Guru Greg despite his big talk about “The Making of Champions etc.” was struggling to make champions out of the Indian team. There is much more to success at the top level than simply good technique, good work ethic and “attitude” while looking solid in the nets. What separates the performers on the big stage from those at a lower level is their mental fortitude.

Greg Chappell obviously did recognize that aspect of the game, and even enlisted the help of his buddy Dr. Rudi Webster to try and instill it in his team. However, the stomach for a fight, or the fire in the belly, is something that some players have shown time and time again and those that don’t show it are not likely to acquire it overnight through a few sessions with a psychologist or by attending military style training camps.

The bottom line is that India are now likely to go into the World Cup with essentially the exact same team that they had before Greg Chappell took over as Coach, with only one really new face, that of the pace bowling sensation Sreesanth. Ironically, even Sreesanth was a Ganguly protégé and has acknowledged publicly that before he was selected for the Indian team, he received words of tremendous encouragement from Ganguly during Challenger Trophy matches couple of years ago.

With the old guard back in the fold, Indian fans once again see a team united. Now the task before the selectors is to pick a team that blends experience and youth in such a way that India have the best chance for success at the World Cup. As the Americans say, “better late, than never”, and that is exactly what Indian cricket fans would be fervently hoping for.

However questions remain about what exactly has Greg Chappell achieved in his 18 or so months as Indian coach? He has not significantly improved any aspect of Team India's game, from batting, to fielding to bowling. In fact he has actively blocked the appointment of a specialized bowling coach, something that even highly successful teams like Australia have done. So basically he has just about maintained the status quo. Is this why the BCCI, and indirectly the Indian public, is paying him the huge sums that they are? The Indian public certainly deserves some answers.

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