I doubt if Greg will feel fulfilled

says Ian Chappell.

Since the whole premise of this article is on how India let down Greg Chappell, let me pose these questions -

1. Bowling coach -

"If we need a bowling coach then I am happy to have a bowling coach. It is not something I see as being a top priority right at this moment. But from time to time we will call upon experts and I have no problem with that." – Greg Chappell 16/6/2005

"No, we do not need a bowling coach. We have got hundreds of bowling coaches. We have got Michael Holding on television who tells us everything that we have to do. We have Imran Khan on television everyday telling us what we have to do." – Greg Chappell 15/2/2006

If striving for improvement was paramount, why the resistance to a bowling coach, especially when India was fielding one of the rawest bowling attacks in its history?

2. Sports Psychologist

Talking about the mental approach, this passage is illuminating. When Rudi Webster was hospitalized and could not be available to the team till during the World Cup -

When contacted, coach Greg Chappell, who always maintained that the modern sport is all about mind, told DNA that the team management is not contemplating to have a psychologist at the moment. Asked if he would be in favour of having someone like Australian Sandy Gordon — who had played a key role in India’s campaign during the last World Cup — Chappell said: “We have not made any plans to do so.”

Team India had worked with Sandy Gordon in the past and from all reports, the goodwill was mutual. If Sandy Gordon was available and willing with Webster unavailable, why not utilize his services?

Granted that Chappell and Webster go back a long way and Chappell is comfortable with Webster’s working style – but this is not about Chappell is it?

3. Bio-Mechanist

bi·o·me·chan·ics (b-m-knks)

n.

1. (used with a sing. verb) The study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure.

2. (used with a pl. verb) The mechanics of a part or function of a living body, such as of the heart or of locomotion.

Ian Frazer was brought into the team as a bio-mechanist – a person with knowledge on bio-mechanics. In the span of 22 months from when he assumed this responsibility, has there been a tangible improvement in the fielding or the running between the wickets of Team India?

As any question centered around Team India will inevitably be met with a chorus of player behavior and factionalism so let me rephrase the question – Has there been any tangible improvement in the fielding, catching and running between the wickets of the one guy who, by common consensus, totally bought into the Chappell philosophy – Rahul Dravid? Did his slip catching , ground fielding and running between the wickets tangibly improve over those 22 months?

4. Player Development

In the 22 months that Chappell was Team India coach, 30 odd players were tried – ODIs and Test cricket combined. Of those 30, barring Suresh Raina, how many other “juniors" were given an extended run? And if those juniors were not up to scratch, what mechanisms were put in place to groom and nurture them?

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Greg Chappell is not the first person to identify that the Indian cricketing system is not working, nor will he be the last.

The question he needs to ask himself is whether he left Indian cricket in a better state than when he found it, or worse.

Following the debacle in the WorldCup, there was an opportunity to start afresh- to build a team that met India's expectations while transitioning from the the tried and trusted to the new and vibrant.

Chappell could have been the guy to guide that transition. He chose not to.

Would he have been pushed if he had not quit is now a matter of conjecture. This much is for sure - he burnt every bridge there was with the very people he would have to deal with if he chose to remain.

After that, his feeling fulfilled or not is the least of anyone's worries.