Greg Chappell resigns after the Indian debacle

After 22 tumultuous months, Greg Chappell, the coach of Indian cricket team quit the post on Wednesday.The former Australia Captain had taken up the assignment of coaching a talented yet misfiring Indian Cricket Team two years ago. Chappell took over in May 2005 from New Zealander John Wright, who served successfully as the country's first foreign coach for almost five years. The players always resisted the 58-year-old's experimentation policy and he was blamed for a divide in the team and for India's first-round World Cup exit in the Caribbean. He handed in his notice two days before the Indian board meet to delve into the World Cup debacle.

Chappell's tenure will always be remembered for personality clashes with two of the country's most successful cricketers. Four months into his new job, the former South Australia coach was involved in a public spat with then-captain Sourav Ganguly over a leaked e-mail that eventually led to the Bengal left-hander's sacking. On Wednesday, little master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, himself considered the god of cricket in this nation obsessed with the game, reacted angrily at suggestions that Chappell had questioned the attitude of senior players at the World Cup.

Between the two incidents, both of which turned into raging national debates, Chappell moved from one media-fuelled controversy to another. Images of Chappell making a rude finger gesture towards fans in Kolkata protesting at Ganguly being dropped from the team in November 2005 was splashed all over the country angering fans as well as politicians. He was censured by the BCCI for the incident. However the team had started a successful run, notching up a record 17 consecutive one-day victories when batting second. This was enough to pacify some of his detractors. The inability of the team to progress beyond the group stage as hosts in the Champions Trophy last year and India's shock exit in the Caribbean World Cup proved to be the final straw.

In Wednesday's statement, Chappell thanked the BCCI for the coaching opportunity and said: "It is, and it remains, one of the most challenging coaching positions in world cricket." The post is both high profile and highly lucrative with the country considered to be the corporate centre of the game.

But this also has its flipside as Chappell witnessed during his tenure. The weight of expectation in the billion-plus populated country where cricket is a religion can be unnerving. The national cricket team is always under the spotlight and their every move documented on and off the field. It has given rise to controversies and debates off the field and hopefully something constructive has to evolve to learn and unlearn the lessons of India's world cup debacle.