Greg vs Gods

Indian cricket may choose to ignore who is saying it but not what he is saying.

One thing stands out in Chappells cutting Adelaide exposition: that Indian cricket tends to mollycoddle its gods at the cost of the team. Its an axiom and it was something that M.S. Dhoni,too,had hinted at a few weeks earlier. But such inconvenient truths are best brushed aside,hastily hushed by the cricket establishment. However,this is something the selectors should be forced to square up to: despite all the bedazzling strokes that he once entertained us with,is it more important in having the highest run-getter in Test cricket than in being the best team in the world? The answer to this would contain the direction the sport would take and the kind of discipline it would demand of itself.

Beyond Chappells rather pseudo-pop sociology about Indians not having leadership qualities because of the Poms and the back-handed compliment that he gave to himself,as a former selector of Cricket Australia,Chappell has again displayed the quality to prod Indian cricketers out of their comfort zone,to make some tough calls. This time,when India have been knocked off its No 1 perch,with a whitewash in England and Australia,and questions have been raised not only about its Test quotient but also about the longevity of its aging stars,maybe it will help to listen to a former coach even if hes plugging his book.