India reach Chappell’s adopted town

After a tumultuous two-year stint that had more drama in it than a Bollywood potboiler, Chappell continues to polarize the cricket populace, which is in two minds, wondering whether to hail the Australian as a saint or hang him as the sinner.

And even after he left the job, Chappell remains a belligerent personality, a rabble-rouser, and his recently publicised claims of being subjected to racial attack— the subsequent playing down of the remark notwithstanding — further bolstered this image.

Accordingly, his presence on Sunday’s match guarantees him his fair share of media attention.

“He’s here in the city and of course he would watch the match,” Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) spokesman Anant Vyas said.

Chappell is in touch with some of the players and the match on Sunday would give him an ideal opportunity to gauge how different this team looks than the one he coached.

Chappell’s has been an extraordinary tale, but one without a happy ending for the Australian. Ganguly, his bete noire, is back in the team, as are others like Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

Among his favourite, Rahul Dravid has abdicated captaincy and was axed from the one day side, Suresh Raina is content making appearance in the Ranji scenario, while Irfan Pathan has lost his pace, status and automatic selection in the team.