Chappell elaborates 10-point checklist

Greg Chappell, India's coach, has talked about a "10-point checklist" that players need to meet to "fit into the future of Indian cricket". He added that it was up to the players to "either select themselves in or select themselves out".

In an extensive interview to PTI Chappell said, "It has less to do with the runs made and wickets taken. It has to do with having everything that makes up the individual who blends into a group that can be a successful team. It has a lot to do with individuals and their commitment to getting better as a person, getting better as a player... It is not just about batting or bowling, fielding is a very important part of it. Then there is attitude --- your attitude towards the team, towards your team-mates... There is a checklist of about ten points each individual needs to be able to meet to fit into the future of Indian cricket".

Chappell refused to be drawn into the issue whether Sourav Ganguly would feature in his plans for the 2007 World Cup. "I am not able to say at this stage who will be in that squad. As I said to the group of 30-odd players when we started in Bangalore in June, who plays in the 2007 World Cup has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with the selectors. In any case I am one of the seven people involved in the process. It is actually up to each individual to either select themselves in or select themselves out and that will be by performance, by their attitude, by their ability to fit into all the criteria that are needed to be a Test cricketer or a one-day international player."

Chappell reiterated that flexibility would be the key to India's chances in the World Cup. "There are some areas we need to develop such as our batting, bowling and fielding, our flexibility, our ability to handle all types of situations that can come up on the field during a cricket match. If we keep developing in all these areas we will be a competitive team that will have a chance to win the World Cup. If we can get to the semi-finals anyone can win from that point."

He was firm in the belief that India don't need a bowling coach. "We have got hundreds of bowling coaches. We have got Michael Holding on television who tells us everything that we have to do. We have Imran Khan on television everyday telling us what we have to do."

'There are not many cricketers in the history of the game at 21 years of age who have got the record [Irfan] Pathan has got' - Chappell © AFP

Chappell revealed that he is not worried about the perceived drop in pace of Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan. "I am not sure Pathan has dropped that much pace - he still bowls 136 or 137 kmph from time to time. In Zimbabwe a few months ago he bowled in the high 130s. He is a young man who is developing. There has been way too much emotion and energy devoted to this particular subject... There are not many cricketers in the history of the game at 21 years of age who have got the record Pathan has got. Let us accept he is not a fast bowler. Once we accept that we might not have all this emotional claptrap that goes on about Pathan.

"Some bowlers start their careers as medium pacers and they finish up as fast bowlers like Imran Khan did. You have got others who start as fast bowlers but finish up as medium fast bowlers like Richard Hadlee. You have got other bowlers like Kapil Dev who were swing bowlers who bowled at 130 kmph. They got hundreds of wickets in Test cricket."

Chappell also admitted that following "needless" controversies he had momentarily contemplated whether he should stay on. "It [quitting] has probably flashed across my mind once or twice but I have never actually got to the stage where I thought it [continuing] is not worth it," he said.