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Australia in India 2008-09
Chappell helps Australia in India
Cricinfo staff
September 23, 2008
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Australia have enlisted the help of the former India coach Greg Chappell as they prepare to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away from home. Chappell is travelling with the squad as an assistant coach and he will pass on advice to the players and support staff about cricket and life in India.
"It's good to be involved this time," Chappell told the Herald Sun. "Obviously it's a transition period and always an exciting time. I'll have the opportunity to work with some of the young players. Just talk about the conditions in India, generally, will be part of the role, just what to expect in India, conditions, weather, food - all those different things.
"We'll be talking about the whole strategy involving bowling and batting in India. There will be discussions certainly with the coaching staff and probably with the individuals."
Brett Lee, who is the spearhead of the bowling attack but has not played a Test in India, said that Chappell would be "a very key member of the Australian team". "He's here and he's wearing Australian colours," Lee said. "What he did for the Indian players was brilliant, but he's moved on, taken up a new challenge, and that's great for us.
"Being a former India coach is one of the reasons he's here but also for his experience as a past Australian captain and player. We will definitely be picking his brains for every little bit of knowledge and experience he's gained. We are looking forward to having Greg Chappell help us and the guys with their batting and fielding."
Chappell was the coach of India from 2005 to 2007 and still works with the Rajasthan Cricket Academy. During his term with India, Chappell had strained relations with the captain Sourav Ganugly and the coach's tenure ended after India's first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup. The new role, touring with Australia, follows his appointment as the head coach at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.
"It's a role that the Centre of Excellence head does from time to time," Chappell said. "Tim Nielsen obviously did it with the team on various occasions when he was with the academy, so it's no different to the past. Some people will want to make it look different, but it's not."
Chappell's inclusion in the off-field staff will be a major boost for a squad that has only four men who have played a Test in India: Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich. The Australians arrived in Jaipur on Monday and they will have two warm-up games before the Test series begins on October 9.
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It is always interesting reading blogs involving Indian cricket. Usually they are filled with a large volume of nationalistic bias & prejudice, & boasts of might & power especially when there is a series involving Australia in the offing. However, I am pleasantly surprised to read the objectivity & prosiac sageness of most of the bloggers here (excepting a couple of individuals). Here's hoping the nastiness of the past few series is left behind & cricket alone is left to speak for itself. The series ahead promises a great deal. The comments of a few fringe lunatics should not be allowed to agitate what should be a fantastic few months of hard, competitive cricket. At the end of the day cricket is a professional international game. A member of coaching staff has to adhere to requirements of their contract & that's it. Greg Chappell is an Australian, who briefly coached India, & will be far more briefly involved in the Australian setup. Major storm in a teacup stuff.
Posted by Skywalker1977 on (September 24 2008, 10:46 AM GMT)India's loss is Australia's gain. Whatever giant strides Indian cricket has taken in the last few years can be attributed to Chappell's infusion of young blood and pushing veterans out of their comfort zones along with news ideas and coaching techniques. He remains unsung and unacknowledged which is not surprising in Indian cricket. Hats off to Greg!
Posted by BangaloreKid on (September 24 2008, 10:42 AM GMT)cricketnirvana.com has the live telecast of the Irani Trophy match between Delhi and Rest of India for those of you who are interested. Even their "Dial C" program under the "Videos" section of their home page is interesting as well. Check it out.
Posted by Karan91 on (September 24 2008, 04:25 AM GMT)I reckon that this series will be very close..even though only 4 people in australia have played in india. First of all, india's test batting has not been upto scratch...apart from the openers, the middle order has failed. there will be alot of responsibility on the shoulders of Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly, as well as VVS. And Kumble will have to lift his game as captain. i dont think that he has ever bowled sachin yet, who is a very valuable part timer with alot of tricks up his sleeves. Secondly, with Greg Chappel in the Australian camp, he'll be giving away some secrets surely, as the test team is not that different to the team he coached a few years ago. I wont be surprised if India lose this series, the batsmen need to step up, and the players need to support kumble. India should not get overconfident against australia's new spinners. remember what happened on clarke's debut in bangalore? he scored an amazing ton. I feel the series will be 1-1..aust will retain the trophy.
Posted by abhi_wacko on (September 24 2008, 00:57 AM GMT)Big Deal .. LOL What substantial tip is he going to give the Aussies ? ? He can talk on length on about how to tackle spin ... but experiencing it on the dusty Indian pitches is a whole different thing. Lets see if the new Australian outfit is up to the challenge .. About work ethics. Its ridiculous. Let Chappel do whatever he wants to do. As long as he is not taking part in the Indian Camp, Indians should be happy :D On the other hand, India better not fall for such mind gimmicks and concentrate on tackling the initial pace attack of Brett Lee and Co. Overcome that, and half the job is done And I hope management will be smart enough to give clear instructions to the pitch curators on what kinds of wicket they want. No FLAT pitches please. Some good turning and spinning wickets .. and the series is ours for the taking. GO INDIA !
Posted by BangaloreKid on (September 23 2008, 20:14 PM GMT)Aussies are trying to mess around and get into the heads of Indian cricketers by claiming that Chappell has some inside information to offer about Indian players. All part of an effort to get a psychological advantage over Indians by messing them up mentally. There is no need to over-react to this as I don't think Chappell cannot offer anything into Indian players weaknesses that they do not already know from video tapes. As long as our players are mentally strong and do not get ruffled by these mind games they should be okay. Indians should say that they have discovered some very important weaknesses among Australian players after watching videos of their domestic matches and that they hope to exploit it in this series. Again, all part of getting into Aussie heads just like they are doing it to Indians. An exercise all done in good jest as long as they back it up on the field.
Posted by euphony69 on (September 23 2008, 19:40 PM GMT)I like Greg Chappell. He is a good coach and he served well for Indian team. Politics in BCCI and veteran players to be blammed for the teams failure. If you cannot play upto the expectation , move aside. There are tonnes of good players in india who can play well. Sachin , sourav , Shewag , Kumble should retire from One days. Veterans may be good for test cricket. These people cannot bat , bowl , field in the current One days international and 20/20 matches.
Posted by antiblogger on (September 23 2008, 18:01 PM GMT)It seems that mohitgera has repeated his comments for the second time -- so I will repeat mine. If you delete mine, you should delete his. What is the value of such unintelligent, ill informed, nationalistic sentiments? What possible purpose do they serve? What do they reveal to us about the truth of greg chappell's reign? Does such hostility -- the description of australians as ``totally liar'' -- have any purpose other than to encourage unintelligent hatred between nations? india has to rise above such sentiments.
Posted by Devang7 on (September 23 2008, 17:21 PM GMT)Chappell was a a good coach and if those idiots in the BCCI weren't so narrow minded and politically biased Chappell would have made a world of difference. Ganguly and Dravid should have been ousted out of the Indian line up a long time ago. Good luck Chappell.
Posted by BangaloreKid on (September 23 2008, 16:24 PM GMT)Looking forward to the mother of all series. Hope it is competetive and nail biting like all previous ones.