The Chappell Curse

A few days back when Harsha Bhogle asked Ian chappell if India would win the world cup Chappell was critical of India's weaknesses and replied in a downright negative.I was more than delighted to hear the ever ranting Aussie bone head utter those words because of what I call "The Chappell Curse" .

Ever since Greg Chappell was kicked out as the coach of the Indian Cricket team in 2007, Ian Chappell, I believe, has been holding a grudge against the Indian Players . So every time he sees an opportunity to criticize a player he grabs it with both hands, but unfortunately for him, whatever he has rambled about them, the exact opposite has happened.Let me recap.

In 2007 Sachin was suffering a form slump. He was also under a lot of pressure especially after the world cup disaster. Ian Chappell who was licking his fingers for a long time, finally wrote an article attacking Sachin, suggesting that he should retire. The article was filled with cliches "Sachin is playing for the wrong reasons","Sachin is clearly past his prime " ,"Sachin is this..Sachin is that" etc etc.. It had "print me","notice me", "talk about me" written all over it and obligingly the Australian press had a field day with it.But the curse had other ideas. It went to work slowly landing small blows on Chappell.Small blows in the form of match winning centuries, commitment and never ending hunger for runs. By the time it was done Chappell was bruised as hell.Now, Sachin is by far the best batsmen in the world.He has amassed records which Ricky Ponting, playing like he is, can't break even if he plays into his 50's.Sachin was voted the best batsmen of all time (by Australian citizens!!) pipping Sir Donald Bradman , which incidentally was again refuted by Chappell(for crying out loud!!) .

Fast forward to 2010. Ian Chappel was asked who are the two best batsmen presently playing international cricket. The reply he gave made the news for its appalling nature. He said Ricky Ponting was currently the best in the business(not surprising at all coming from a man who is bordering on Aussie fanaticism) and the second best was "JP Duminy". That's right JP.Duminy!! . Chappell must think people like Sachin, Gambhir, Kallis and de Villiers are just average cricketers .Even the dumbest cricket follower will tell you that this "JP Duminy" isn't even close to being the second best batsmen in South Africa.How the hell can he be the second best in the world?His strike rate at that point in test matches was 40 which was lower than that of Rahul Dravids'. So the curse went to work this time as well. JP Duminy has never reached any new high's in his form and Ricky Ponting - well the less said the better.

So currently I would say the curse has already started its work and in less than a month I don't see any reason why India shouldn't lift the world cup and when that does happen I hope Harsha Bhogle stops being so down to earth and ruthlessly reminds Chappell about his earlier comments and records his reaction. Ian Botham might want a copy of that!!