Despite all the controversies that erupted during Greg Chappell's reign as India coach (2005 to 2007) before he resigned seven years ago, the former Australian captain remembers his stint
Virender Sehwag, Greg Chappell (inset). Pic/Mid-day
Despite all the controversies that erupted during Greg Chappell's reign as India coach (2005 to 2007) before he resigned seven years ago, the former Australian captain remembers his stint with fondness.
Greg Chappell (left) during a training session with Virender Sehwag. Pic/Mid-day archives
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"It was a great period, and a great opportunity and great honour to get to coach. I don't really want to go back into the whole thing, and re-hash things. The other world has moved on, I have moved on," Chappell told thecricketcouch.com.
When reminded Chappell about the frustration he experienced at not getting Virender Sehwag to strike rich form during his stint, he explained: "Everyone relates to people differently.
Virender was at a stage in his career where he was quite comfortable with what he was doing. He didn't particularly want to make any changes.
He didn't want to work particularly hard on his fitness. I think all of those things were going to catch up with him at some stage if he didn't work on them.
'Naturally gifted player'
"He did start to work on them a year after I left. It benefited him for a period of time. Whether he continued it or not, I don't know, but Virender is probably one of the most naturally gifted players that I have ever seen. As a ball striker, I don't think there have been many better than him.
"What I was trying to do is to get him to understand that he had that talent and he needed to try and maximise it not only for his own benefit but for the benefit of Indian cricket.
It is not for me to judge whether he did or he didn't. As I said before, I did the best with what I had. It wasn't obviously enough to motivate Virender to work harder on his game."
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