Same old story, usual suspects

Looking back at the two parallel scriptsDhanraj vs RajinderThis would make the Chappell-Ganguly feud seem like a kindergarten spat. After wi...

Looking back at the two parallel scripts

Dhanraj vs Rajinder
This would make the Chappell-Ganguly feud seem like a kindergarten spat. After winning the Asia Cup in 2004, things suddenly turned ugly at the Chennai airport. In full public view Rajinder and Pillay pointed fingers as hockey’s ugly face reared again.

Captain sacked
Though Ganguly isn’t technically sacked yet but the bottom line is he wouldn’t be the captain for the next two series. Worse was in store for Dhanraj after the controversy. He was first sacked as captain and gradually lost his place in the side. Will Sourav go the Dhanraj way?

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Media gag
Though this was new concept for the cricketers after captain-coach controversy after the Zimbabwe tour, this has been a norm for years in hockey.

Chop and change
Chappell’s ‘2007 World Cup Vision’ saw the end of the road for the likes of VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble and while non-performance saw the sidelining of not-so-old stars Zaheer Khan and L Balaji. Hockey too has seen similar changes: First Dhanraj, Baljit Dhillon and Baljit Saini didn’t fit into the scheme of former coach Gerrard Rach and more recently, suspect form saw Deepak Thakur and Devesh Chauhan shown the door.

— GS Vivek