Indian cricket needs a benevolent dictator

Indian cricket faces a multitude of unanswered questions after their World Cup exit and Greg Chappell's resignation and Harsha Bhogle in The Indian Express says what India now needs is a benevolent dictator, a person who "is not beholden to it and who is committed to it".

There are immediate issues to be decided. The coach, the captain and therefore, the future of many senior players. There are reports to be discussed and the perpetrators of leaks have to be identified and put on television as villains. And someone has to ask: why are the nine players, including, presumably, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, so worked up? What does an admirable person like Rahul Dravid has to say? And most important; even if the manner of delivery of the coach’s message was unpalatable, was the message wrong?

Ajit Wadekar, the former Indian captain, welcomed Chappell’s resignation. “It’s good that he has put in his papers, because it wasn’t a happy thing happening anyway in the Indian squad,” Wadekar told The Indian Express. “How can anybody even talk of a player of Sachin Tendulkar’s capability like that? This was a man, a legend, who has lived and breathed cricket virtually since he was born, and you call him a part of a ‘mafia’? Even terming the seniors as mafia wasn’t the right thing to do. “I am glad the Chappell chapter has ended.”

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, another former captain, was also critical of Chappell. “From what we can gather, it looks like he was trying to dictate,” Srikkanth told The Hindu. “It is unfortunate what we are hearing, that he was trying to divide the team. He will not be remembered in Indian cricket because he has not contributed anything. [Chappell's predecessor] John Wright will be remembered more because he has given something to the team. Everything has slipped back since Chappell took over.”

In The Hindu, Kiran More, the chairman of selectors during the Chappell-Ganguly dispute that resulted in Ganguly being dropped, backed Chappell. “He is straightforward and an upfront man. And people in India don't like that. He would say it on the face and we don't want to hear that. There is a lot of pressure on players and coach now because of the media. BCCI will have to take a strong stance and back the right people. They will also have to find the cause of failure in the World Cup.”