Chappell's tenure worst phase of my career - Zaheer

[DomainK]

In a revealing insight into one of the most tumultuous periods in Indian cricket, Zaheer Khan has said the tenure of Greg Chappell as India coach was the most disappointing phase of his decade-long career. Zaheer said he was unable to perform during that time as he was constantly worrying about whether or not Chappell wanted him - along with several other senior players - in the team. "It was as if you've been framed. It was like 'we don't want you in the team. It's not about performance, we don't like your attitude, you're stopping the growth of cricket in the Indian team'. I felt it personally because I was dropped straight after the Sri Lanka tour, even though I had not performed badly," Zaheer said on NDTV's Walk the Talk show. "I was fortunate enough to go to South Africa to represent the Asia XI [in the Afro-Asia Cup]. I got about nine wickets and I was recalled for the next series. In that phase it was always a struggle. When you're fighting within the team, when you have a war to fight in your own camp, it is always difficult to win." Chappell took over as India coach in May 2005 but his tenure - characterised by his zeal to draft in young players - was plagued by serious differences between him and senior players, including Sachin Tendulkar, in the Indian team. He also had a public spat with the then captain, Sourav Ganguly, who was dropped and later recalled. At the end of his tenure, following India's early exit from the 2007 World Cup, he decided not to seek an extension of his contract. In contrast, Gary Kirsten's time with the Indian team was "amazing", Zaheer said. "He has given everyone their space. He's understood the Indian culture and how we do things. He's taken that step of coming closer to us rather than dictating. He was our friend, not a coach." Zaheer felt the only positive to come out of Chappell's tenure was the inclusion of youngsters in the team. But sacrificing experienced players was not the only way to give opportunities to youth, Zaheer felt. "A youngster coming in is a good sign but not at the cost of a cricketer who is doing his bit." The county stint with Worcestershire came at the right moment for him, said Zaheer, when he was not feeling confident about his game. The time he spent playing away from the Indian set-up meant he started to enjoy cricket again. He signed up with Worcestershire for the 2006 county season and finished as the highest wicket-taker in Division Two of the County Championship, taking 78 wickets at 29.07. "Worcester taught me the reason I'm playing this game. Sometimes when you play at the highest level, especially in India, the whole country is so passionate about the game, so whether you do well or do badly it affects you in many ways. So when I went to Worcester, it was just me playing cricket. "I was just enjoying cricket and not thinking about other pressures, about the pressure of performance. Everything was falling into place. I was taking wickets. Even though I was not in the Indian side, I was actually happy." A rejuvenated Zaheer has led the Indian attack since his Worcestershire stint, playing a crucial role in India's ascent to the top of the Test rankings. The icing has been the 2011 World Cup triumph, in which Zaheer was the tournament's joint-highest wicket-taker with Shahid Afridi, with 21 wickets. In the World Cup final, he bowled three consecutive maidens at the start of the innings, a contrast to his nervous display against Australia in the final of the 2003 edition. Zaheer said he was young at that time, and got carried away with emotion. "I was only a couple of years into international cricket; the World cup journey itself was something special. That time my thing was to bowl quick. I wanted to be aggressive. It was a World Cup final; there were a lot of emotions. As soon as the national anthem finished, there was this rush of young blood. I wanted to do really well, wanted to just blast the Australians apart. "This World Cup I was aware of the fact that there will be a lot of emotions, I have to deal with it. I have to maintain my calm and focus on the process. I was telling myself just go there and bowl." Zaheer has sharpened his skills over the years, also becoming a mentor to the younger bowlers in the side. "You cannot run through a side [in the subcontinent]. You need to be patient, you need to understand when to go for the kill." "Early in my career, I used to get really tired in the second innings of a Test. That's where the fun is. I was not able to deal with that pre-Worcester. "You can't waste all your energy in the first innings or when a partnership is happening. You need to work on your field placements and know in your mind that the moment you get a wicket, you can go for another one. If you can get two wickets quickly that's going to change the complexion of the game." http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/518880.html

[gaurav92]

I don't know how many games he played when Greg was our coach. I remember his comeback in the side in the tour of South Africa. He was sensational in that tour, and ever since he played county for the Worcs, he has looked very good. In the year 05-06 when Greg was the coach, Zak didn't play many games ( at least I can't remember). RP Singh, Irfan and Sir Eggy were the spearhead of our bowling attack with Sreesanth, VRV and JP Yadav (the all rounder) doing the job of rotationists. :hehe:

[Javier]

Well Zaheer not just for you but Guru Greg's tenure was a nightmare for all the Indian Cricket fans as well

[achilles]

The urge to prove Greg Chappell wrong was the catalyst that inspired every single player of the team. So, he was good in a way.

[singhprakash72]

The urge to prove Greg Chappell wrong was the catalyst that inspired every single player of the team. So' date=' he was good in a way.[/quote'] I think that was needed at that time ...around 2005 the performance of senior players was dipping including Saurav,Sachin and Zaheer...nobody should take his place for granted and probably this is one good thing of Greg's tenure. I am not sure about how his methods were effective , but it did make senior players get out of complacency and perform good. A good coach should be a mixture of Gary and Greg ...I would say 80% Gary and 20 % Greg.

[yoda]

Chappell was so powerful, he made it the worst period for even the fans' cricket viewing career. BTW, that said, I think Chappell may have actually saved Zak's career by asking him to get his fat ass back in shape. :hahaha:

[Ram]

Zak is obviously still hurting from those painful memories from 06. I don’t know how many of you actually got to watch the interview on NDTV (if you haven’t, you can catch it here - http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/video_audio/518825.html?genre=9), but the pain on his face pretty evident when he answered the question about Guru Greg’s tenure. Which is probably why, he is only too glad to vent whenever someone brings it up. But If I were Zak, I’d handle all questions related to Guru Greg’s tenure the same way guys like Sachin and Dravid do – A stoic, impassive “No comments’. First of all, that will deny the silly media the opportunity to whip up fabricated controversies when there are none. Secondly, and more importantly, it does not look particularly good when you’re seen critiquing someone, however justified and true that criticism maybe, when that person is not around to defend himself. What a terrible time to be Greg though. First he gets lambasted and mocked by his own players for the judgment he showed around Sachin’s career. Now, Zak is seen having a go at him, even though I am pretty sure this interview was taped before the Katich crisis. But in defense of Guru Greg, I think all the reporting around has been too one-sided and unfair. As a coach (like he was with the Indian team) or a chief selector (like he’s, with the Aussie team), he’s allowed to make judgment calls. He did and probably still does, things that in his best judgment, are the right things to do. Now, whether you agree with him or not, is a different issue. But there’s absolutely no reason whatsoever to pillory him heaps of ridicule. Think of it – As coach of India and chief selector of the Aussie panel, he did not have to do the things he did. He did not have to oust Ganguly from the national team. He did it because he thought it was in the best interests of the team (and I tend to agree with him on that. Ganguly’s batting back then, was simply appalling. He did not have to insist that Zak lose the excess fat in his body. He did it, probably because he wanted to inculcate an uncompromising culture of fitness within the team. Similarly, as chief Selector, he did not have to oust Katich from the list of contracted players. In all these situations, he could have taken the easy way, do what most people would have done and gotten away with it. But clearly, that is not Greg Chappell. His execution of ideas may have been often wrong and misplaced, but I think the man has his heart in the right place.

[vvvslaxman]

Zaheer did have issues of dropping in pace drastically as the match goes in. Each spell his speed was taking a nose dive. Infact at one point he was support bowler for Irfan pathan. Not saying much. But definitely his experience at the county helped him a lot.

[tatters]

Chappell is an utter penis. Absolute scum, he is. Single-handedly ruined Irfan Pathan's career and looks like he was hoping to ruin more. I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire.

[1983-2011]

everyone is destrying bechara guru greg left right nad center nowadays:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[desi pride 1234]

gary and kiran more were the biggest jokers....

[Cricket Tragic]

gary and kiran more were the biggest jokers....

:hmmmm2:

[Andy]

:hmmmm2:

He must have meant guru greg :--D

[ViruRulez]

Interesting but that is quite obvious that it was the worst period for the Indian team in the last decade. Greg was one of the reasons but then there were other reasons too. It was also the period when Irfan Pathan made his entry into the team and became the leading bowler instead of Zak. Similarly, Sreesanth also made his debut and both Sree and Irfan were quite impressive in those days. Zak was going down in his performances and was also riddled by injuries while the other two were on a rise thereby increasing competition for the slots. So, there were many factors though Greg was also one of the reasons for his decline in that period.

[mishra]

I think that was needed at that time ...around 2005 the performance of senior players was dipping including Saurav,Sachin and Zaheer...nobody should take his place for granted and probably this is one good thing of Greg's tenure. I am not sure about how his methods were effective , but it did make senior players get out of complacency and perform good. A good coach should be a mixture of Gary and Greg ...I would say 80% Gary and 20 % Greg.

Are you on a high? Greg was made a selector of the Australian national side on the 29th October 2010. On 10th June Simon Katich is in news http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/518574.html So bottom line is Guru Greg is such an arseeholee that cant stop leaking shytee, independent of wherever he goes...

[singhprakash72]

Are you on a high? Greg was made a selector of the Australian national side on the 29th October 2010. On 10th June Simon Katich is in news http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/518574.html So bottom line is Guru Greg is such an arseeholee that cant stop leaking shytee, independent of wherever he goes...

He may be arseeholee but sometimes you need characters like him to push seniors who assume that they are now permanent fixture and become complacent. But as mentioned before, that is not always you would want to do with a team and hence my inference that a mix of both is needed.

[Era of Gold]

Harsh but true .

[achilles]

I think that was needed at that time ...around 2005 the performance of senior players was dipping including Saurav,Sachin and Zaheer...nobody should take his place for granted and probably this is one good thing of Greg's tenure. I am not sure about how his methods were effective , but it did make senior players get out of complacency and perform good. A good coach should be a mixture of Gary and Greg ...I would say 80% Gary and 20 % Greg.

I agree. Everyone looks for a new opportunity to piss on his credentials. But if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have the seniors powering us to the #1 spot today. When he took over, he was confronted with out-of-form seniors (and I don't want to name them), who thought just because they scored runs in the past year, it is fair for them to fail and no coach should be questioning their seniority. It was good that Greg gave our seniors such persistent kicks on the backside, that they turned their careers around and have helped our rise to the #1 spot. He taught them what discipline was, he taught them that just because you scored 4000 runs in cricket doesnt mean you can skip practices and do your manmani. Greg's role will unfortunately never be credited.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[achilles]

^ I think in retrospect, his assertion of dropping an out-of-form Tendulkar really shook up the seniors. They thought if Sachin's place is not safe, no ones is. And look at the way they have delivered. Chappell had a different philosophy, a school of thought which is best suited to rein in renegades. Perhaps he chose the wrong country to coach.