Variant Day: Greg Chappell's mail to BCCI

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Full text of India cricket team coach Greg Chappell's e-mail to

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Ranbir Singh

Mahendra, courtesy DNA, India TV

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Due to comments made by Mr Sourav Ganguly during the press

conference following his innings in the recently completed Test

match in Bulawayo and the subsequent media speculation I would

like to make my position clear on two points.

1. At no stage did I ask Mr Ganguly to step down from the

captaincy of the Indian team and;

2. At no stage have I threatened to resign my position as Indian

team coach.

Mr Ganguly came to me following the recently completed tri-series

of one-day matches here in Zimbabwe and asked me to tell him

honestly where he stood as a player in my view. I told him that I

thought he was struggling as a player and that it was affecting

his ability to lead the team effectively and that the pressure of

captaincy was affecting his ability to play to his potential. I

also told him that his state of mind was fragile and it showed in

the way that he made decisions on and off the field in relation to

the team, especially team selection. A number of times during the

tri-series the tour selectors had chosen a team and announced it

to the group only for Sourav to change his mind on the morning of

the game and want to change the team.

On at least one occasion he did change the team and on the morning

of the final I had to talk him out of making another last-minute

change that I believe would have destroyed team morale and damaged

the mental state of the individuals concerned. I also told Sourav

that his nervous state was affecting the team in other ways as he

was prone to panic during pressure situations in games and that

his nervous demeanour was putting undue pressure on the rest of

the team. His nervous pacing of the rooms during our batting in

the final plus his desire to change the batting order during our

innings in the final had also contributed to nervousness in the

players waiting to go in to bat. His reluctance to bat first in

games I suggested was also giving wrong signals to the team and

the opposition and his nervousness at the crease facing bowlers

like Shane Bond from NZ was also affecting morale in the dressing

room.

On the basis of this and other observations and comments from

players in the squad about the unsettling effect Sourav was having

on the group I suggested to Sourav that he should consider

stepping down from the captaincy at the end of the tour in the

interests of the team and in his own best interests if he wanted

to prolong his playing career. I told him of my own experiences

toward the end of my career and cited other players such as

Border, Taylor and Steve Waugh, all of whom struggled with batting

form toward the end of their tenure as Australian captain.

We discussed other issues in relation to captaincy and the time

and effort it took that was eating into his mental reserves and

making it difficult to prepare properly for batting in games. He

commented that he had enjoyed being free of those responsibilities

in the time that he was in Sri Lanka following his ban from

international cricket and that he would consider my suggestion.

I also raised the matter of selection for the first Test with

Sourav and asked him where he thought he should bat. He said

'number 5'. I told him that he might like to consider opening in

the Test as the middle order was going to be a tight battle with

Kaif and Yuvraj demanding selection. Sourav asked me if I was

serious. I said it was something to be considered, but it had to

be his decision.

The following day Sourav batted in the match against Zimbabwe 'A'

team in the game in Mutare. I am not sure of the exact timing of

events because I was in the nets with other players when Sourav

went in to bat, but the new ball had either just been taken or was

imminent when I saw Sourav walking from the field holding his

right arm. I assumed he had been hit and made my way to the

players' area where Sourav was receiving treatment from the team

physiotherapist, John Gloster.

When I enquired as to what had happened Sourav said he had felt a

click in his elbow as he played a ball through the leg side and

that he thought he should have it investigated. Sourav had

complained of pain to his elbow at various stages of the one-day

series, but he had resisted having any comprehensive investigation

done and, from my observation, had been spasmodic in his treatment

habits, often not using ice-packs for the arm that had been

prepared for him by John Gloster. I suggested, as had John

Gloster, that we get some further tests done immediately. Sourav

rejected these suggestions and said he would be 'fine'. When I

queried what he meant by 'fine' he said he would be fit for the

Test match. I then queried why then was it necessary to be off the

field now. He said that he was just taking 'precautions'.

Rather than make a scene with other players and officials in the

vicinity I decided to leave the matter and observe what Sourav

would do from that point on. After the loss of Kaif, Yuvraj and

Karthik to the new ball, Sourav returned to the crease with the

ball now around 20 overs old. He struggled for runs against a

modest attack and eventually threw his wicket away trying to hit

one of the spinners over the leg side.

The next day I enquired with a number of the players as to what

they had thought of Sourav's retirement. The universal response

was that it was 'just Sourav' as they recounted a list of times

when Sourav had suffered from mystery injuries that usually

disappeared as quickly as they had come. This disturbed me because

it confirmed for me that he was in a fragile state of mind and it

was affecting the mental state of other members of the squad.

When we arrived in Bulawayo I decided I needed to ask Sourav if he

had over-played the injury to avoid the danger period of the new

ball as it had appeared to me and others within the touring party

that he had protected himself at the expense of others. He denied

the suggestion and asked why he would do that against such a

modest attack. I said that he was the only one who could answer

that question.

I was so concerned about the affect that Sourav's actions were

having on the team that I decided I could not wait until selection

meeting that evening to inform him that I had serious doubts about

picking him for the first Test.

I explained that, in my view, I felt we had to pick Kaif and

Yuvraj following their good form in the one-day series and that

Sehwag, Gambhir, Laxman and Dravid had to play. He said that his

record was better than Kaif and Yuvraj and that they had not

proved themselves in Test cricket. I countered with the argument

that they had to be given a chance to prove themselves on a

consistent basis or we would never know. I also said that their

form demanded that they be selected now.

Sourav asked me whether I thought he should be captain of the

team. I said that I had serious doubts that he was in the right

frame of mind to do it. He asked me if I thought he should step

down. I said that it was not my decision to make, that only he

could make that decision, but if he did make that decision he had

to do it in the right manner or it would have even more

detrimental effects than if he didn't stand down. I said that now

was not the time to make the decision but that we should discuss

it at the selection meeting to be held later in the day.

Sourav then said that if I didn't want him to be captain that he

would inform Rahul Dravid that was going to stand down. I

reiterated that it was not my decision to make but he should give

it due consideration under the circumstances but not to do it

hastily. At that point Sourav went to Rahul and the two of them

conferred briefly and then Sourav left the field and entered the

dressing room. At that stage I joined the start of the training

session.

A short time later Mr Chowdhary came on to the field and informed

me that Sourav had told him that I did not want him as captain and

that Sourav wanted to leave Zimbabwe immediately if he wasn't

playing. I then joined Mr Chowdhary and Rahul Dravid in the

dressing room where we agreed that this was not the outcome that

any of us wanted and that the ramifications would not be in the

best interests of the team.

We then spent some time with Sourav and eventually convinced him

that he should stay on as captain for the two Tests and then

consider his future. In my view it was not an ideal solution but

it was better than the alternative of him leaving on a bad note. I

believe he has earned the right to leave in a fitting manner. We

all agreed that this was a matter that should stay between us and

should not, under any circumstances, be discussed with the

media.

The matter remained quiet until the press conference after the

game when a journalist asked Sourav if he had been asked to step

down before the Test. Sourav replied that he had but he did not

want to elaborate and make an issue of it. I was then called to

the press conference where I was asked if I knew anything of

Sourav being asked to step down before the game. I replied that a

number of issues had been raised regarding selection but as they

were selection matters I did not wish to make any further

comment.

Apart from a brief interview on ESPN before which I emphasized

that I did not wish to discuss the issue because it was a

selection matter I have resisted all other media approaches on the

matter.

Since then various reports have surfaced that I had threatened to

resign. I do not know where that rumour has come from because I

have spoken to no one in regard to this because I have no

intention of resigning. I assume that some sections of the media,

being starved of information, have made up their own stories.

At the completion of the Test match I was approached by VVS Laxman

with a complaint that Sourav had approached him on the eve of the

Test saying that I had told Sourav that I did not want Laxman in

the team for Test matches. I denied that I had made such a remark

to Sourav, or anybody else for that matter, as, on the contrary, I

saw Laxman as an integral part of the team. He asked how Sourav

could have said what he did. I said that the only way we could go

to the bottom of the matter was to speak to Sourav and have him

repeat the allegation in front of me.

I arranged for a meeting with the two of them that afternoon. The

meeting took place just after 6pm in my room at the Rainbow Hotel

in Bulawayo. I told Sourav that Laxman had come to me complaining

that Sourav had made some comments to Laxman prior to the Test. I

asked Sourav if he would care to repeat the comment in my

presence. Sourav then rambled on about how I had told him that I

did not see a place for Laxman in one-day cricket, something that

I had discussed with Sourav and the selection panel and about

which I had spoken to Laxman at the end of the Sri Lankan tour.

Sourav mentioned nothing about the alleged conversation regarding

Laxman and Test cricket even when I pushed him on it later in the

discussion. As we had to leave for a team function we ended the

conversation without Sourav adequately explaining his comments to

Laxman.

Again, this is not an isolated incident because I have had other

players come to me regarding comments that Sourav had made to them

that purports to be comments from me to Sourav about the

particular player. In each case the comments that Sourav has

passed on to the individual are figments of Sourav's imagination.

One can only assume that he does it to unnerve the individual who,

in each case, has been a middle order batsman.

Sourav has missed the point of my discussions with him on this

matter. It has less to do with his form than it does with his

attitude toward the team. Everything he does is designed to

maximise his chance of success and is usually detrimental to

someone else's chances.

Despite meeting with him in Mumbai after his appointment as

captain and speaking with him about these matters and his

reluctance to do the preparation and training that is expected of

everyone else in the squad he continues to set a bad example.

Greg King's training reports continue to show Sourav as the person

who does the least fitness and training work based on the

criterion that has been developed by the support staff to monitor

the work load of all the players.

We have also developed parameters of batting, bowling, fielding

and captaincy that we believe embodies the 'Commitment to

Excellence' theme that I espoused at my interview and Sourav falls

well below the acceptable level in all areas. I will be pleased to

present this documentation when I meet with the special committee

in Mumbai later this month.

I can assure you sir that all my actions in this matter, and all

others since my appointment, have been with the aim of improving

the team performance toward developing a team that will represent

India with distinctions in Test match and one-day cricket.

As I said to you during our meeting in Colombo, I have serious

reservations about the attitude of some players and about Sourav

and his ability to take this team to a new high, and none of the

things he has done since his reappointment has caused me to change

my view. In fact, it has only served to confirm that it is time

for him to move on and let someone else build their team toward

the 2007 World Cup.

This team has been made to be fearful and distrusting by the

rumour mongering and deceit that is Sourav's modus operandi of

divide and rule. Certain players have been treated with favour,

all of them bowlers, while others have been shunted up and down

the order or left out of the team to suit Sourav's whims.

John Wright obviously allowed this to go on to the detriment of

the team. I am not prepared to sit back and allow this to continue

or we will get the same results we have been seeing for some time

now.

It is time that all players were treated with fairness and equity

and that good behaviours and attitudes are rewarded at the

selection table rather than punished.

I can assure you of my very best intentions.

Yours sincerely,

Greg Chappell MBE