'Nothing's a disaster' - Chappell

The Indian team has come in for some serious criticism - not merely from the media, but from the public, too.

A particular low was against West Indies at Ahmedabad in the Champions Trophy when Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina came together with the score on 131 for 5 in 31 overs. A sizeable crowd turned on India, booing loudly as the pair consolidated - but losing a wicket would have meant disaster.

Greg Chappell, though, does not believe these things are disasters, and a man under fire from several quarters spent some time with Cricinfo explaining why this team was still on track despite a lack of success in recent times.

"Nothing's a disaster, everything's an opportunity," he says. "I keep reading about the Champions Trophy being a disaster. Disappointing, yes, but not a disaster.

"Yuvraj's injury is a disaster for him in that it has come to him at the perfectly wrong time. But who is to say it doesn't become the best thing that has happened to him and make him re-evaluate his love of cricket, his desire to be a good player in both forms of the game and it motivates him like he's never been motivated before? It gives people a chance to take on more responsibility."

When he talks cricket, Chappell does not pause to answer his mobile, he does not reach for a glass of water, hell, he barely stops to take a breath. He talks about the process the team management are trying to put in place: how it's critically important to have the right kind of people in place when March 2007 comes along.

He explains that experiments - a word that has been given a derogatory connotation - are not undertaken on whims. When the team was winning everything in sight, as it was last year, even the sceptics grudgingly bought into the theories. Now there's a serious danger that even those who believed are losing patience. But if you listened to Chappell, you'd keep the faith.

"There's not a sport in the world where you don't see a squad adjusting its line-up according to the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and/or the conditions," he says, readily picking out examples from the Champions Trophy. "Glenn McGrath didn't open the bowling in a number of games, Nathan Bracken opened the bowling, later Shane Watson opened the batting and that was to ensure they had five bowlers without denting the batting. Mike Hussey batted anywhere from No. 4 to 7.

"I didn't see anyone talking about experimenting there - it was just a natural way of developing a team and using the assets in the best possible way. Irfan Pathan batting at No. 3 has been about using our assets best. We also want to have five bowlers."

It's been widely believed that Chappell has been the one making the changes, and many have taken thinly veiled digs at Ian Frazer, the biomechanics expert who plays the role of assistant coach. Worse, they have accused Chappell of running the show, leaving Rahul Dravid a mere puppet. Put that to him and the former captain of Australia bristles.

"We can't expect people who are removed a step or more from the team to understand what we're trying to do. Rahul is an extremely talented and experienced cricketer who has one of the toughest jobs in cricket - captaining India. As for the comment that Rahul's a puppet and I'm running the show, only people who don't know either of us will say that. It's an insult to Rahul Dravid to suggest he is anything other than his own man.

"Thankfully our philosophies are quite close and most of the time we agree on things. But when we disagree, when it comes to the point of deciding on a position in the team for example, it will always be his decision that is the final decision because he is the captain.

"If he walks out onto the field with a team he's not happy with it reduces out chances of succeeding. It's much better for me to be unhappy about the team than it is for him to be. I've said it many times before, and I'll continue to say it, the captain is the most important part of the cricket team. When I was captain I didn't need someone sitting off the field second guessing me."

Another serious problem the team has faced is the non-performance of certain individuals. While Chappell would rather not discuss players, when pushed he makes his case. "All players suffer from the pressure of having to perform and hold their place in the team. If that's all you think about you're probably not going to allow yourself to play the best cricket you can.

"Much of the criticism of Suresh [Raina] has been overstated," said Chappell. "From my point of view I'm happy with his development as a player. If you only give guys a game or two and then throw them out, you're going to damage their mental development rather than help it. I have the utmost faith in the group we have. Suresh is one of the key components of getting to the Caribbean in a position to reach the semifinals.

"Equally players have to realise that they come under pressure to perform and it's not only the media and the general public, but the sponsors, partners, the board, all the people who need the Indian people to do well."

When Chappell gave the players a tough team talk at Ahmedabad, within earshot of the media, it snowballed into a major national controversy, but Chappell is adamant he was right. "I live and work with them and at times get frustrated with them. But I can tell you there isn't one of them who isn't giving 100%.

"But given the amount of cricket we play there are some times when I have felt flat and tired, and I have no doubt the players must go through that as well," he conceded. "From our point of view it is critical that we support each other in a difficult time, but it's also important that all of the stakeholders support the group.

"It will be a lot easier to achieve what we want to in a supporting environment. We need the support of a billion people and we need the support of key people to keep the bulk of this group together. It's been identified as the best group - 20-22 players - that we have and the 15 will come from this.

"The realistic view is for us to get to the World Cup with a team that will qualify for the semifinals. If you qualify for the semifinals, anything can happen. As a coach I have to have a realistic view and cannot fool myself or the players into believing they're better than they are or that they're worse than they are."

Chappell says the South Africa tour is a critical one in that it's an opportunity for the team to stay focussed on the big picture and to "find the pieces that are still missing in the jigsaw puzzle." For example, they need bowlers of different styles in the mix, he says.

If you judge a team only on wins or losses, you can certainly get a distorted picture - India were never quite world beaters when their ranking rose to No. 2, but neither are they as bad now as many will believe. "We can't afford to be diverted, listening to the populist views on these things. We know what we need to get in place by March 2007, and the challenge for us is to do that by then.

"The danger for us is that we get diverted by trying to keep everyone happy. It's not a popularity poll. It's about doing the things you believe in. Once you know where you want to go, you need to hold your nerve, and this is one of those times."