GREG CHAPPEL – PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES

February 1981: New Zealand versus Australia. New Zealand needed just 6 runs to win the match and there was just one ball remaining. It could have been any match, between any two teams. But it was a match that people would not forget, years later. A match that would make critics sit up and stare disbelievingly. Trevor Chappell was bowling that crucial last over. Just before the run up, his captain has a word with him. Decisions are made. The fielders get ready, tense. The batsman takes his stance, nervous, preparing himself for that last big haul. Trevor runs in and in one of the most astonishing moments in the history of cricket, bowls an underarm delivery. The first-ever.

His captain – the man who had made that decision and had commanded him to bowl the last ball in the manner in which he did – was Greg Chappell, one of the finest batsmen Australia had seen.

Chappell, for his time, was a player possessing near-perfect batting techniques and was a delightful slip fielder. But his greatest weapon was and still is, his way of taking bold decisions and wholly relying on his convictions. It is this quality that made him the cricketer he was and more importantly, the coach that he is.

February 1981 was just one of the many decisions Greg Chappell took, indicating very important aspects about him. He was a bold decision-maker, he was a postive thinker, he stuck to his convictions, broke conventions and was highly innovative and most importantly knew the rules of the game. By telling his brother to bowl underarm, Chappell in no way breached the rules. But nevertheless, it showed a lack of sportsmanship on his part. The brothers may have expressed their embarrassment over this incident later. But Australia had won that match, and that was probably running in Chappell’s head. Chappell, furthermore, was part of the Packer team – a team that broke old conventions and made new boundaries.

It is this spirit that makes Greg Chappell work as the coach of the present Indian team. It has not been long since he took over as coach of the team and already significant incidents have occurred, recreating that image of 1981 – the bold decision maker.

The most prominent call that he made was very obviously the decision to drop Ganguly – the then captain of the side. Such things were never heard of Indian cricket. How could you drop a captain? But Chappell had made that decision and stuck to it. By this, he was indicating that in this profession there were going to be no sentiments involved. The team had to do well and it did not need any liabilities. That was the bold message he sent out.

Since then, he regularly made changes in every aspect that he was dealing with as a coach. He intoduced new and innovative training methods in batting, bowling and fielding. One that comes first to mind is his innovations in the nets. He would constantly watch over the nets sessions and as soon as the batsman had hit, would shout out a number – indicating the number of runs he had to take.

Imagine sending Pathan out to open an innings. That is what he did against Sri Lanka in the Test Series. And he repeated that with Yuvraj. It was a treat to watch the reaction of the fans in the stands when a young Pathan came striding out (but India was batting) all padded up. That is another streak that is distinctly Chappell – always throwing surprises and keep the opposition thinking. His actions hence have always projected the idea that he wanted the team to carry an attitude that said that they desired ‘to win’ and not ‘avoid defeat’.

He did not stop here. Pakistan Series – Chappell instructs Dravid to go out with 5 bowlers. This is again a novel move. Inspite of the fact that the batting might get weakened he goes ahead with his convictions, pushing five bowlers into the team.

And there’s more to come. Unquestionably, it is a man like Greg Chappell who makes cricket the game that it is. Through his decisions he has made the audience enraged and at the same time be amazed of the kind of cricketing mind he posseses. Cricket, for Chappell is just an elastic that he can stretch, pull, mould amd remodel to suit his ways and his temperament.

Cricket may and may not need thinkers like him. But he sure makes everyone guessing – what next?