ESPN-STAR Sports signs Ian Chappell

[Gambit]

IanC is my favourite commentator. I find his commentary quite honest, forthright and incisive.

[Bumper]

^Ditto. Ian C is one of the brightest commentators around. I hardly hear any BS from him, behind the mike. The most overrated Richie Benaud, who usually speaks the most obvious & the most politically correct, does not even come close, IMO. Oflate he may have overdone his defense of Greggy, but that does not take away anything from Ian C as a commentator. Good move by ESPN, signing him up.

[Bumper]

And i dont see anything wrong in him calling for Tendu's retirement. He is well within his rights as a cricket journo to do that. I dont think we should use his stance on Tendu to unfairly criticize him as a commentator. Ian C used to go gaga over the same Sachin, in the 90s. I have myself heard Ian C's interviews in which he rates Tendu ahead of the rest in the modern era. But Tendu hasnt kept up his performance, to merit the same level of praise. In these days of highly political & tabloid journalism, its refreshing to see someone like Ian C, who isnt afraid to call a spade, a spade

[Donny]

Good call, Bumper. Nice to see some balance.

[King]

And i dont see anything wrong in him calling for Tendu's retirement. He is well within his rights as a cricket journo to do that. I dont think we should use his stance on Tendu to unfairly criticize him as a commentator. Ian C used to go gaga over the same Sachin, in the 90s. I have myself heard Ian C's interviews in which he rates Tendu ahead of the rest in the modern era. But Tendu hasnt kept up his performance, to merit the same level of praise. In these days of highly political & tabloid journalism, its refreshing to see someone like Ian C, who isnt afraid to call a spade, a spade

Wonder what his take on Hayden or Lara was :wink_smile: How come he is only concerned about Tendukar and not the rest of the cricketing world? I cannot unfortunately state some things I've heard from the Indian players about Ian C but as I said I have a changed perspective about Ian C since.

[Bumper]

Wonder what his take on Hayden or Lara was :wink_smile: How come he is only concerned about Tendukar and not the rest of the cricketing world? I cannot unfortunately state some things I've heard from the Indian players about Ian C but as I said I have a changed perspective about Ian C since.

I dont think Hayden or Lara were mediocre (by great batsmen's standards) for half a decade. Besides neither of them changed their style so much to give us an impression of an entirely diff batsman batting at the crease. I vividly recall Ian C having only positive things to say about SRT during the Ind-Pak'04 series (Tendu's slide started from Ind-NZ'02). I am sure that only after a prolonged period of mediocre batsmanship (more due to dour batting style than actual numbers), that SRT lost his most avid fans in Ian C & Tony Grieg. Tony Greig used to literally worship Tendu in the 90s. He bigged him up every way possible. If he can do a 180 & call Lara the best of the modern era, i wouldnt fault a more objective, level headed cricket journo, Ian Chappell, doing the same. But point taken, on his more recent nonsense, most likely intended to defend his brother. I see those weaknesses more as exceptions rather than a norm in Ian C's resume

[Bumper]

I cannot unfortunately state some things I've heard from the Indian players about Ian C but as I said I have a changed perspective about Ian C since

Indian players = Srinath ?

[King]

Indian players = Srinath ?

I said players :wink_smile: It wasn't singular

[King]

To get something like this out of someone like Anil Kumble there is a very strong reason. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/27301.html Ian knows nothing about Indian cricket: Kumble Press Trust Of India New Delhi, April 2: Ian Chappell’s retirement advisory to Sachin Tendulkar has drawn sharp criticism from veteran spinner and teammate Anil Kumble who says the Australian has nothing to do with Indian cricket and his comments should be ignored as a “personal opinion”. “Ian Chappell has got nothing to do with Indian cricket. Of course everybody is entitled to his opinion, but Ian Chappell is not going to win matches for India, Sachin Tendulkar has been doing that for us and we should be supporting him,” Kumble said. “Chappell is a former cricketer and has the right to make statements about the game but he does not know Indian cricket,” he said in an interview to a TV channel here. The veteran leg-spinner, who bid adieu to his ODI career last week after India’s disastrous World Cup campaign, felt the former Australian captain’s comments should have been ignored at best as a personal opinion. “I think we tend to give too much importance to players from outside. Like when we say that we don’t have a (Shane) Warne, (Muttiah) Muralitharan or (Wasim) Akram in the team, we forget that these guys are not the ones who will win us matches. We need to support our players for that,” he added. Kumble also rubbished suggestions that Tendulkar’s age had made him more of a liability for the team in term of fitness. “Age does not decide fitness. Being 30 or for that matter even 40 does not mean that one should stop playing. It is a decision that depends on the individual and Sachin still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket,” Kumble said. When asked about Tendulkar’s flop show at the World Cup, Kumble said one bad performance should not be the criteria to judge the Mumbai batsman’s contribution to the team. “Obviously losing is disappointing but then it was a collective failure. Sachin or for that matter anyone else cannot be singled out for it,” he explained.

[Predator_05]

Shock, horror...an Indian player engaging in STRAIGHT-TALK ! :afraid:

[King]

When it's Ian C you will find more than just one Indian player talking straight. There are things that a common Indian cricket supporter does not know about Mr.I Chappell.

[yoda]

We seem to have too many foreign ex-players commentating on Indian games. Why can't we use our own past greats? I have very impressed with how articulate for example Mohinder was when they had a program on re-living the 83 world cup triump on CNN-IBN, yet have rarely seen him in the booth. Wonder why. May be he is not interested. Aren't there are others like him who may be interested? It looks totally out of place to have an aussie like Dean Jones in the booth for games between Indian and Pak. Do any Indians work for the channel 9 or the Sky sports covering the ashes? I understand that we don't have great coaches. Can't we even manage a few good commentrators from the pool of ex-players? Is Arun Lal one of the best we can offer?

[Bumper]

Ian C is a straight shooter. He didnt even care about his future as a commentator when he made stinging remarks about Malcolm Speed prior to WC 2003 (which cost him a spot in the WC 2003 commentary team). Whether he talks about cricket, or its administration or the players, Ian C, that i know, will never hold back. So am not surprised many players dont like him. He didnt even spare his fellow Aussies. He made no secret of what he thought of Steve Waugh as a captain. Waugh, ofcourse, never appreciated what Ian C thought of him Yeah i have read Anil Kumble article above before. Not sure it tells me anything about Ian as a commentator. If anything the article tells me, that a senior player is standing up for his fellow senior, as well as that, Ian Chappell, does not care about the reputation of the player in question. His defense of his brother is one glaring hole in his recent articles/comments. Other than that i think he is one of the few writers who is worth a read, almost everytime he puts his pen to work.

[King]

All right Bumper you have a right to appreciate him. As for some players not liking him, it is not here for me to discuss the details. I know a lot more about him through my contacts than his just commentary to appreciate him, it's as simple as that.

[Bumper]

^ I only know him as a commentator. U are building my curiosity on the mystery about Chappell. Perhaps u could use the admin forum to reveal some of Ian's exploits ?:P

[The Outsider]

The guy is an old fool with the typical "my times were the best" attitude even if one were to ignore the Tendulkar comments and his muddling up of his column with a law firm defending his brother. His stupid comments on Steve Waugh, who achieved much more than Ian Chappell, as a batsman and as a captain just reeked of jealousy and vendetta. After such BS, its hard to take anything coming from his mouth seriously.

[The Outsider]

This is what the git had to say about Waugh :

"I didn't like selfish cricketers when I played, so why would I like them now" and "As far as I am concerned Steve Waugh was a selfish cricketer" - that is Ian Chappell's summation of Steve Waugh the cricketer. He also says 'if you've seen one Steve Waugh innings, you've seen the lot'.

So anyone you dislike becomes selfish, Mr. Chappell?

[Ram]

I agree with Bumper here. I think Ian Chappell is amongst the most impartial of Aussie commentators. He was the first cricket commentator i liked..