Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has lauded ex-India head coach Greg Chappell while giving some insights into his stint with the national team. Chappell had replaced John Wright as India’s head coach in 2005 and was removed after the country’s terrible show at the 2007 ODI World Cup where the team bowed out from the group stages.
His infamous stint saw Chappell get involved in several controversies including his infamous fallout with former skipper Sourav Ganguly. Several senior Indian players including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar among others had reservations about Chappell’s coaching style which led to the former Australian cricketer getting sacked from the top post.
Raina was one of the players, who was given a breakthrough in the Indian side under Chappell and went on to become part of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning side under MS Dhoni. An attacking batsman and a handy part-time bowler, Raina was also an exceptional fielder and enjoyed a fruitful career with the Indian team.
He recently credited Chappell for shaping the future of several youngsters under him who later went on to become an integral part of the Indian team. He stated that despite all the controversies during his stint with the team, Chappell taught India how to win.
“In my opinion, Greg deserves a lot of credit for shaping that generation of Indian players. The fruits of the seeds he had sown were seen much later when we won the 2011 World Cup. I think somewhere along the line, despite all the controversies around his coaching career, he taught India how to win and the importance of winning,” said Raina in his autobiography, Believe: What Life and Cricket Taught me.
India, who used to be majorly dependent on the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly during run-chases in the early 2000s, broke the pattern under Chappell. With Dravid as skipper, India won a whopping 14 consecutive matches while chasing under Chappell. Raina, rightfully, lauded Chappell for teaching the team how to chase down totals and win games.
He (Greg Chappell) taught us to chase totals. We were all playing well at that point, but I remember him stressing a lot on breaking down run chases at batting meetings. The credit for that goes to both Greg and Rahul Bhai,” Raina wrote.
Raina played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is in his international career, amassing 768, 5615, and 1605 runs in the three formats respectively before hanging his boots last year. He continues to play for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL)
