Greg Chappell

To those who don't know Greg Chappell the cricketer, his coaching stint and the explosive climax to that would be what they identify him with. Having been appointed India's coach in 2005 due to a recommendation from the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, the two-year phase was a forgettable experience for the Australian which ended in a preliminary World Cup exit in 2007. Much before that, in his first year as coach, there was an infamous spat with Ganguly that went public, eventually leading to the captain's ouster from the side. Clearly the captain and coach didn't think on similar lines which resulted in an absolute disaster. This is not to say that Greg wasn't a visionary. He was an absolutely intellectual person with a wide array of plans but perhaps wasn't suited to coaching a star-studded Asian side. His insights and views on the game were of great value, particularly embedding the term 'finisher' into Indian cricket. Yet, he left with more negatives than positives.

Much before this coaching saga, in the 1970s, Greg Chappell was the best Australian batsman of that time. He had a penchant for big scores and he did it all with effortless ease. Greg was one of those gifted talents who also had the will power to translate the potential into a success story. As a player, he scaled major heights and was also a fairly successful captain during his times. Being in an era that had the fearsome West Indian bowlers didn't deter Greg who was only pumped up to face the Caribbean pacers. A few of his best knocks unfortunately came in Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket where he completely owned the WI pacers. He loved batting against the number one side in the world and had tremendous success against them in his Test career as well. Born in a family that lived and breathed cricket, Greg's elder brother Ian and younger one Trevor were also Australian cricketers.

Ian was the first to represent Australia and did so for a considerable amount of time before Greg followed suit. Trevor didn't play as much as his older brothers. Greg burst into the international scene in the Ashes cauldron and made a statement immediately with a century on debut in a pressure situation. There was no looking back from there on and he even signed off in style with a century in his farewell Test. That made him the first man to notch a ton in his first and last Tests. Like his brother Ian, Greg too was captaincy material and he relished the opportunity when it came, by cracking twin tons in his first game as captain. The ODI format wasn't as successful for Greg when you compare it to his exploits in the longest form of the game. Also, he never got to lead the team in a World Cup.

Despite a seesaw form swing in 1983-84, Greg managed to arrest the slide and timed his retirement perfectly, smashing a classy 182 in his final Test innings. After retirement, he jumped into the media bandwagon and later on, got involved with Australian cricket at grassroots level as well. His mentoring skills were always lauded and even acted as a consultant successfully. It were these that impressed Ganguly during India's 2003-04 visit to Australia and consequently, led to the Greg's appointment as India coach. However, things soured and never went well. After the fiasco with India, Chappell got back to Australia and has been working with the Cricket Academy over the years. Greg's most infamous activity will be the underarm incident where he ordered his brother Trevor to bowl underarm in a game against New Zealand.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan