Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Sepia Tinted memories

It goes with the territory. In fact, it's so predictable it should be listed on the itinerary.Some well known ex-player starts the talk, then one of the current team chips in with his view. Depending on your view, its either psychological warfare (or to give it its portentous name, mental disintegration), cheap points-scoring, or the same old bullshit.
John Wright, Indian Summers

So the Aussies have started the talking the talk.. First it was Andrew Symonds and his not so intelligent comments on India celebrating its wins and such like, and now it is Mr Greg Chappell. The order is different but the import is the same.

Either that or Mr Chappell is in revisionist mode.How else does one explain this comment

"We tried to change it to move away from an old based team, to get some youth and some young legs and some strong arms into the team as well as some good batting and bowling.

"But unfortunately it's been resisted, actively resisted from within the team and without so we're going to finish up with an old team going to the World Cup.

"On paper it looks good but I'm not sure it's going to get the results the people of India want,"
and how does it marry in with the team India actually selected for the World Cup

Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Ajit Agarkar
MS Dhoni
Sourav Ganguly
Harbhajan Singh
Dinesh Karthik
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel
Irfan Pathan
Virender Sehwag
Sreesanth
Robin Uthappa
Yuvraj Singh

and the circumstances in which the team was chosen ( a free fall from the time of the West Indies tour, a majority of the team in pre season form, Irfan Pathan injured and without any match play, Yuvraj injured and Suresh Raina in no form to speak of).

And all of that is fine...

Because when you have sepia tinted glasses on, the past looks so much rosier..

20 comments:

Jrod said...

Do people still listen to Greg Chappell?

Homer said...

Uncle J,

You tell me :)

The documentary is going to be aired on ABC. So I guess the TRPs will determine whether he still has an audience ..

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Besides being the racist angle is still being injected in the story given what happened in the ODI series between 2 teams last month, I feel this is another attempt to pressurise India before the tour begins....

And if Chappell feels there was a racist angle to it, then the timing of opening the lid out of the box also raises the questions and the authenticity of the remarks.

straight point said...

some guys however intelligent and knowledgeable just don't know how to conduct themselves...

the day is not far when he will loose all his credibility he has earned both as player and great thinker of game...

the guy just cant keep his mouth shut and get on with his job at hand...

Anonymous said...

What is he still doin in india ?? some chairman of some RCA or something ?? Why is he makin a fool of himself and losing his credibility ? Someone please ask him to go back to Australia and live respectful life there just like olden times ......

Homer said...

Ashu,

True... Thing is, there was enough blame to go around leading upto and after the World Cup.. And no one emerged smelling of roses..

Cheers

Homer said...

Jane,

He is a consultant at the Rajasthan Academy with Ian Frazer running the day to day operations.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Uncle J s comment sums up all about Greg s credibility SP...

Anonymous said...

Homer,
We also have some sycophants among us like Mr. Dilip Premchandran, of cricinfo, who still miss the "great" man. May I suggest you read his blog. It makes hilarious reading, and also makes you sombre - its people like Mr. Premchandran who still keep the love of white skin and the banner of reginal preferences flying.
Cheers

Raj

Homer said...

Raj,

Thanks for your comments..

I have read Mr Premachandran's blog and while I do not agree with everything that he has to say, he does raise some interesting points. As do all bloggers and people who read and comment on the blogs and cricket forums and boards.

Qualifying him as someone who "love of white skin and the banner of reginal preferences flying" is a tad harsh in my opinion.

Cheers

Kartikeya Date said...

And collectively abusing Chappell isn't another form of sycophancy?

Chappell isn't revisionist. He's merely repeating what was the biggest selection shift in the last 4-5 years. The different thinking of the Vengsarkar committee compared to Kiran More's tenure.

What Cricket do you guys follow?

Jrod said...

Greg Chappell was a brillaint batsmen and a more than handy captain. Since then i haven't seen much from him that makes sense or shows talent.

straight point said...

Homer

thanks for your comments on my blog...and only coz of your and ottayam's encouraging words i am able to come up with my first post...hope you will visit...will wait for your frank and insightful comments as usual...

Homer said...

Kartikeya,

Good question.

Look at the team selected for the World Cup again and tell me what selectoral shift is being repeated?

And, for the record, here is the team that made it to the DLF Cup in Kuala Lampur ( KM's last as Chairman of Selectors)

Rahul Dravid *
Ajit Agarkar *
MS Dhoni *
Harbhajan Singh *
Md. Kaif
Dinesh Mongia
Munaf patel *
Irfan Pathan *
Ramesh Powar
Suresh raina
Virender Sehwag *
RP Singh
Sreesanth *
Sachin Tendulkar *
Yuvraj Singh

So, Saurav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan and Robin Uthappa for Suresh raina,Md. Kaif,Dinesh Mongia and RP singh equates "We tried to change it to move away from an old based team, to get some youth and some young legs and some strong arms into the team as well as some good batting and bowling."

Factor in form and injury and quite frankly, the selectors had very little leeway anyways. And yet, the focus from an youth centric team did not change ( unless you are making the argument that playing an inform Saurav raises the collective age of the team by 70 years).

Revisionist, no?

Homer said...

Uncle J,

GC talks a very good game.. His interviews are always a treat to read.. Great theoretician, though not the best person to implement his theories.

Cheers

Homer said...

straight point,

have blog rolled you.. You are a marked man now :)

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Early success for Chappell (upto Pak06) was based on a crack fielding unit and disciplined bowling (see change in Agarkar & RP's ER). RP Singh, Pathan, Agarkar, Harbhajan, Raina, Rao, Kaif, Yuvraj, Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, M Karthik, Gambhir. More AND Vengy tried and failed to find replacements for out-of form players. Where they tried to improve quality of batting and bowling, invariably they had a worse fielding teams. Rao, Sreesanth and M Karthik didn't perform from the word go. Gambhir was also shaky. So, in came Manuf, Powar, Kumble, Mongia, Uthappa, D Karthik, Ganguly. None were good in their roles as is seen subsequently. In other words it is/was almost impossible to find good replacements. Ganguly's role should also have been analysed. He was asked to basically hang around and forced Sehwag/ Uthappa to take all the risk. The latter were frankly lacking in ability and know-how of Sachin. Sachin would not have thrown his wicket away by overdoing the aggression (on a damp pitches v Bangladesh). With Ganguly as an opener, there is no choice but to setup a platform and score runs later. Remember they went in with 7 batsmen, a poor fielding unit and so lost on 2/3 disciplines. Their batsmen often collapsed (see SL 07, WI 07) and the tail was useless (esp Powar, Kumble, etc running btw wickets, strokes). Against WC v SL, again they failed to set-up a platform (three down) and a collapse happened later. So, Vengy's / More's interference meant roles were not properly understood, etc. Mistakes were made.
Issacn

Jrod said...

Homer, i'm not even sure he is good on theory anymore.

His coaching record in Australia is horrible. I don't think anyone could believe it when he was picked as indian coach, it seemed to be a decision made on his reputation as a batsmen.

Homer said...

Anonymous,

Thanks for your comments and I totally agree.

Cheers

Homer said...

Uncle J,

Take a look at this

Cheers