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India lost even before the war started


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most of it is well known by now, but this articles speculates some disturbing happenings within the team : ---------- newindpress: Friday March 30 2007 04:04 It didn?t take much time for the cameras to turn on the returning stars, it didn?t take much time for mobile phones to start leaking confidential messages from the coach. But the real story of India?s World Cup disaster does not begin with that initial fumble against Bangladesh, or the embarrassing surrender to Sri Lanka. By the time India reached the West Indies on March 1, the wheels had already come loose, threatening to fall off any time. And they did, within 23 days. This website's newspaper talked to some of the main characters in this tragedy ? including coach Greg Chappell, captain Rahul Dravid and at least two other senior players ? before, during and immediately after India?s World Cup 2007, and it can now reveal that many in this team had little hope of succeeding in the Caribbean, and the skipper was spending a lot of his time and energy repairing a severe communications breakdown between the coach and most of the senior players. Today, a shattered Dravid is still to decide on his future, preferring to take the call, if it does comes from the BCCI, after a few quiet days with his family. And a stoic Chappell is facing the fallout of an unnatural obsession to bring the media into the loop at every turn, despite being repeatedly cautioned by the captain over the last two years ? the coach is not very hopeful of a recall, either. What led to this sorry situation? Where did it go wrong? There are many answers, and you will find some of them in the report that Chappell will submit to the BCCI. Or, in the notes that have been diligently taken down by the coach over the last two years that will soon come together in the form of an ?explosive? book. But, for now, it essentially boils down to this: ? Dravid believes it is the failure of youngsters to really challenge the aging veterans, including himself, which led to the team compromising on agility and fitness, and the burden falling back on battle-scarred shoulders. He agrees with the coach that it is high time for a young India to emerge, but strongly feels you can?t simply shut the door on players like Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, especially when the domestic circuit is yet to throw up the kind of talent that can take over right now. His biggest disappointment is the failure of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif to seal their slots in the Indian battling line-up over the last 12 months. ? Coach Chappell points towards the BCCI and the selectors for not seeing the larger picture ? for succumbing to public pressure and recalling Sourav Ganguly, for bowing to the captain?s wishes and letting Virender Sehwag carry on, for not pushing Sachin Tendulkar enough. He also blames Tendulkar and Ganguly for staying aloof, and not contributing enough leadership-wise, letting Dravid take all the load. In one rare, unguarded moment last week, he even tried to link this ambivalence to the race for captaincy - it?s a charge that Ganguly, at least, swatted aside with a contemptuous laugh. ? As for the senior players, at least one of them was not very enthused by the ?bookish? captaincy of Dravid, but stressed that the team would rally behind him in this time of crisis. And both made their disgust at the coach?s methods very clear - they blamed the Aussie for repeatedly leaking team plans and his opinion on various players to the media; they said this finally led to an atmosphere of divisiveness within the side. ?He played around with our minds,? said one of them. In fact, by the time the team reached the West Indies, the relationship between the coach and almost every other senior player, except Dravid, had become so strained that there were days when a player ? like, say, Tendulkar ? would hardly exchange a word with Chappell. And despite all the public smiles, it?s doubtful whether Chappell was ever on backslapping terms with Tendulkar, Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan: ? Tendulkar?s relationship with Chappell started going awry almost immediately after his comeback from injury late last year when the coach questioned his fitness. Chappell, then frustrated by the Mumbai star?s repeated flops, slammed in another nail by standing in the way of Tendulkar?s burning desire to open the innings. The coach believes that Tendulkar is denying the team the wealth of his experience and turning away from the tough option of grinding it out and propping up the Indian middle-order - Chappell, besides, prefers to see Robin Uthappa grow as one-day opener. ? The Ganguly-Chappell patch-up is a sham in every sense with the former captain still ruing his decision to back the Aussie for the job almost two years ago, despite being ?cautioned? by many Australian players, including Steve Waugh. Not surprisingly, Chappell believes that the decision to recall the former skipper was a step backwards ? the fight between the two had always been about who would hold the team?s reins ? while the left-hander points to the string of good scores since his return to prove the coach wrong. ? Harbhajan and Zaheer, both perceived to be Ganguly?s ?men?, got on the wrong side of Chappell following ?Dada?s? ouster. Chappell believes that the off-spinner has lost the will and the bite, while the emotional sardar blames the coach for not understanding his art and breaking the team?s spirit by leaking stories about players. Zaheer, who was shown the door by Chappell last year for lack of fitness and the right ?attitude?, is back with a bang but has largely stuck to himself, and is said to be counting the days. Dravid remains the only senior player who has been able to strike the right note with the former Australian captain - probably, because of their strong, common faith in motivational tools, in the belief that it?s the mind that counts at the highest level. The Bangalorean is still a bit overawed by the former Australian captain?s ?cricketing brain?, and believes that most of what Chappell has said - on the need to push younger players, on setting up an assembly line - makes sense. But even he is not very happy with Chappell?s obsession with the media, even though he attributes it to the coach?s eagerness to convince everybody about his vision, get everyone on board. The skipper is also painfully aware that many of Chappell?s off-the-record opinions were being leaked right back to the players, adding up to a lot of heartburn and unrest especially over the last six months. There you have it then: coach and players on different pitches, an overloaded captain, seniors pulling in different directions. No wonder then, that all it took finally for the world?s richest cricket team to come crashing down was one gentle push ? from Bangladesh.

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Re: India lost even before the war started There is absolutely no doubt that Chappell is a total and complete MEDIA WHORE. He jus keeps giving interviews and insiders to journos which are totally unnecessary and as the story reveals causing friction between his and players relationships. This guy jus need to get the fuck outta India.

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Re: India lost even before the war started one thin is sure....India does not need an aussie coach...we need kapil Dev as coach..that guy is passionate about india and indian team...he can be bowling coach..and we can bring Robin Singh for fielding and general stuff .. Abhimanyu ( Dravid ) can not fight a lone battle with oppositions..when his own army men left him in the middle.. he is not Ganguly...who left the team in the wood at the sight of green grass...at Nagpur.. IMO..Dravid should continue as captain..and we will have to rebuild the team... we need to kick out the non-performers ( Sehwag ) and under performers ( ganguly, Bhajji ) and bring in young and energetic bloods... Before the start of the WC...i had this doubt that Ganguly will fail...and that happened...i even opened a thread before the match against SL that Ganguly will fail... if Chappel is a Cobra then Ganguly is a viper... after the return in the indian team... he satisfied his ego... and there was nothing else for him to achieve.. he was not motivated...and which was evident in his performances... in the case of sehwag...there is some mental problem with him... he needs to sort it our ASAP..if he wants to come back again in the indian team... Dravd was unfortunate to have players in his team..who were out of form and had some past history with them.. we all know what he did with SL, SA, PAK....with new players... karthik, Raina.. Dhoni...VRV...Munaf...Sree...these are the players who had no odea about politics..and gave their 200% for the team... we should give Dravid atleast two more series and his choice of team..before we evaluate his performance as captain.. even with intenal politics..and out of form players....his record as captain is good. in ODIs ..and in tests also... i would say..we should support Dravid...at this time..and fore Chapple ASAp..and bring back. ..Robin Singh along with kapil/Sree/Venky

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Re: India lost even before the war started Sad read. But am not surprised. - Greg "Media Who.re" Chappell must go. He has no people skills - Sachin "I play for my team" Tendulkar must for once think about the team, than himself. - Saurav "I will be soon be cappo" Ganguly must use his influence on the fellow seniors to encourage team bondage, rather than use them to his advantage. - Harbhajan "2001" Singh must be shown the door in ODIs Dravid unfortunately is a victim of all this nonsense.

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Re: India lost even before the war started

one thin is sure....India does not need an aussie coach...we need kapil Dev as coach..that guy is passionate about india and indian team...he can be bowling coach..and we can bring Robin Singh for fielding and general stuff .. Abhimanyu ( Dravid ) can not fight a lone battle with oppositions..when his own army men left him in the middle.. he is not Ganguly...who left the team in the wood at the sight of green grass...at Nagpur.. IMO..Dravid should continue as captain..and we will have to rebuild the team... we need to kick out the non-performers ( Sehwag ) and under performers ( ganguly, Bhajji ) and bring in young and energetic bloods... Before the start of the WC...i had this doubt that Ganguly will fail...and that happened...i even opened a thread before the match against SL that Ganguly will fail... if Chappel is a Cobra then Ganguly is a viper... after the return in the indian team... he satisfied his ego... and there was nothing else for him to achieve.. he was not motivated...and which was evident in his performances... in the case of sehwag...there is some mental problem with him... he needs to sort it our ASAP..if he wants to come back again in the indian team... Dravd was unfortunate to have players in his team..who were out of form and had some past history with them.. we all know what he did with SL, SA, PAK....with new players... karthik, Raina.. Dhoni...VRV...Munaf...Sree...these are the players who had no odea about politics..and gave their 200% for the team... we should give Dravid atleast two more series and his choice of team..before we evaluate his performance as captain.. even with intenal politics..and out of form players....his record as captain is good. in ODIs ..and in tests also... i would say..we should support Dravid...at this time..and fore Chapple ASAp..and bring back. ..Robin Singh along with kapil/Sree/Venky
Good Post. But you even you have admit Dravid has made some bone headed decision which has cost us dearly. For example , decision to bat first versus bangla , choose out of form sehwag in that match , bat second in Mumbai test against England which cost us the test series ,playing kumble against bermuda and not playing him against Sri lanka etc to name a few. Also, kapil dev was no great shakes as a coach . Why bring him back ?
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Re: India lost even before the war started Again it all boils down to this, were these the reasons for the debacle in the world cup? Certainly not. It is pretty pathetic it is being touted as the team composition, players unity, coach, captain as the reasons for the loss. The bottom line is that the players are responsible for the defeat. All these are good for gossip and future changes but the result of the WC solely rests on the players non performance. Chappell has to go, he will go. Rahul Dravid may have to go and he will go but unless the players put their hands up and take the share of blame they will still be hapless as they are right now.

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Re: India lost even before the war started Ravi... good post... Agree bottom line the players are responsible...but the Coach if he is a Media WHORE...and not trusted... cant coach and must go... The Captain...I am more sympathetic towards...with the right type of coach... he could blossom...but unless we get someone like that...it may be better for him to go too....

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Re: India lost even before the war started

Ravi... good post... Agree bottom line the players are responsible...but the Coach if he is a Media WHORE...and not trusted... cant coach and must go... The Captain...I am more sympathetic towards...with the right type of coach... he could blossom...but unless we get someone like that...it may be better for him to go too....
Sure Chappell must go, it will be pretty silly to have him around when his achievement over the last couple of years are not any better than what John Wright could achieve. I would be pretty gutted if they continued with Greg. I think Greg has good relation with the media and uses them pretty well for his good. Negatives far outweigh positives during his tenure. I don't now about Rahul Dravid either, he was not as bad as he was made out to be but he has blundered few times. I do believe you need to be pretty assertive as a captain. Rahul was lacking that as for seniors were concerned. He was fantastic with the young ones but he let the seniors go their own way a bit. Perhaps his respect for the seniors as players superceded the assertive attitude he needed to show as a captain???
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Re: India lost even before the war started Here are more poll results: Out of 60 former cricketers polled, 86% wants Dravid to continue as captain. 9% said no. On Tendulkar: 33% said he shud retire from both forms of cricket 56% said retire from ODIs only 11% wants his to be dropped from the team

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Re: India lost even before the war started Former cricketers are far too learned Bumps, they will usually think alike. The general opinion of the public from what I see from NDTV or from the internet is that they don't care about the coach but they are way too angry with the players including Rahul Dravid as captain.

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Re: India lost even before the war started Dravid is a thinking cricketeer. He used to play by the book. Then he reinvented himself when his place was threatened. Took on wicket keeping and improved his game far beyond which most people thought could be possible for him. However when ever there is pressure he tends to revert back to the book. While India was going great guns he was a decent captain. Getting his field placements rights and bowling options as well. However when the pressure is on he goes straight back into Cricket basics. He will have to reinvent himself as a captain like he did with his batting. I always thought he was a better captain when he took over from ganguly when ganguly was injured than what he wsa when he was given the complete reign.

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Re: India lost even before the war started I think Chappell and Dravid shld stay; Ganguly and SRT should go and let Chappell and Dravid control team selection etc and give them 2 yrs to help develop the next layer of talent + fix egos of Sehwag and Yuvraj

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