Coach has seen it all before

Even skin-deep acknowledgement of this will show that Greg isn’t exactly a person who would instinctively order the country’s most successful skipper to make way for Mohammed Kaif,that too ahead of a Test which India would have walked through anyway.

Before it all blows away as a mere suggestion of “team composition”, a quick look at some probabilities:

Before Chappell joined the Indian team as coach, he had already heard of John Wright’s plight at the hands of “some senior Indian players”. Sourav Ganguly was not among the three responsible.

Would it be natural for a new coach to want to kill any anti-matter that grows out of the woodwork as early as possible?

In the last tri-series, Sourav played under Dravid’s captaincy. What if India had won that series? What if Sourav had stepped down before Bulawayo and India won? What if Sourav hadn’t scored a century?

Sourav, when contacted today, said: ‘‘It is difficult to talk about the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ track for an event that is one and-a-half years hence. I would not even want to comment on the two home series because that is a very long time in cricket.’’

Hence, when Greg wants to see the big picture that incorporates the World Cup, he should have the right to experiment. Remember, this is Chappell’s first-ever national coaching assignment. His breakfast was a trifle indigestible. That’s about it.