M A I N   N E W S

Ganguly, Chappell to meet BCCI panel separately

New Delhi, September 25
In an attempt to hear both versions of the story and at the same time avert a possible confrontation between Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and coach Greg Chappell, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to call them separately for Tuesday’s Review Committee meeting in Mumbai.

“Both Sourav and Chappell have been invited to attend the Review Committee meeting in Mumbai and have been asked to narrate their side of the story. However, there are a lot of other issues as well which would come up for discussion at the meeting,” BCCI Joint Secretary Gautam Dasgupta told UNI from Kolkata.

Following Ganguly’s revelation that he was asked to relinquish captaincy, purportedly by his coach, during the Zimbabwe series, Indian cricket was rocked again by an e-mail from Chappell in which he levelled a slew of serious allegations against the captain, who — the Australian felt — was a disruptive influence on the team.

Clearly embarrassed by the entire episode, the Board has decided to call both of them to the Mumbai meeting and listen to them in separate hearings.

“'The decision to call them separately was taken because Ganguly and Chappell don’t exactly have an excellent relation anymore and having them across the table could see more mud-slinging,” a senior BCCI official said on the condition of anonymity.

“Of late, we have had enough reasons to be embarrassed. The annual general meeting fiasco has left us with egg all over our face and the coach-captain spat has further damaged the Board’s image. We could not have taken the risk of pitting Ganguly against Chappell at the meeting,” he explained.

Apart from Ganguly and Chappell, BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra, his predecessor Jagmohan Dalmiya, Secretary S.K. Nair and three former captains —Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkatraghavan — will be attending the meeting in Mumbai.

“Zimbabwe tour team manager Amitabh Chowdhury’s report on the spat would of course guide us in dealing the issue,” the Board official said.

Meanwhile, Ganguly is said to be leaving no stone unturned to equip himself properly so that he can refute allegations raised by the coach. The Kolkata southpaw is bringing the team physio John Gloster’s report to prove he was not unfit, as alleged by Chappell.

Ganguly kept mum on the issue before the media but he was clearly keen to attend the meeting in Mumbai.

Greg disappointed over e-mail leak

Mumbai: Coach Greg Chappell on Sunday expressed his disappointment that a private and confidential e-mail that he had sent from Zimbabwe to the BCCI President did not remain secret.

“I sent a private and confidential e-mail to the Board President. It did not remain confidential though I would have preferred it to have remained so. At this stage I cannot say much on the matter. I think the media gets a lot excited at such happenings. It is a fairly normal thing happening in cricket. So things change and sometime in future we can talk about it,” he said after arriving from Zimbabwe early on Sunday.

He did not wish to elaborate on the controversial issue but said he would attend the meeting of the Review Committee on September 27 and discuss the happenings on the tours to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Chappell was effusive in his praise of the youngsters in the Indian team, particularly opener Gautam Gambhir, pace bowler Irfan Pathan and wicketkeepers M.S. Dhoni and Dinesh Kaarthick.

He also praised the performance of two other youngsters, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, in the one-day series.

“Pathan did very well in both one-dayers and Tests, and especially in the latter. I think the role model for him is Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas, someone who bowls well in the subcontinent,” he said.

“He is working on his batting and showing positive signs in improving in that department in both Tests and one-dayers. Vaas at 20 was not as accomplished as Irfan is. He can only think of improving from here,” Chappell said.

Praising Gambhir as a conventional and organised opening batsman, Chappell said he formed a very good combination with Virender Sehwag.

“Gambhir has got the ability to hit boundaries. He is a well-organised opener, not too flamboyant like we have one in Sehwag. They form a good combination as they play in domestic tournaments too. Hopefully they will develop together,” he said. — UNI, PTI