A week is a long time in politics, and a year a short time in the building of a cricket team. But twelve months is a long enough period to judge the process that has been put in place and the path that has been charted. Greg Chappell took over as the coach of the Indian team one year ago, and already some of the changes that he has brought about are visible to genuine lovers of cricket. The word genuine needs to be underlined since there are many in India, and especially in Calcutta, who place regional sentiments and petty vested interests above the overall aim of building up a good and invincible cricket team. When Chappell took over, he made two things abundantly clear. One was commitment to excellence. He made this his team?s mantra. The other followed from the first: there would be no stars in the Indian team. Chappell had no time for prima donnas who refused to accept his plan, strategy and regime. The principal victim of this attitude was the former captain, Sourav Ganguly, whose bad form only hastened his exit.

The impact of the Chappell regime on Indian cricket has been just short of revolutionary. Under him, the team has shown greater resilience than ever before. This is evident from the team?s performance in one-day internationals. It will not be unreasonable to expect that the new resilience will soon be manifest in test matches as well. New players have been given greater chances to perform, and almost all of them have come up trumps. This has served to boost the morale of the players. The Indian side now plays as a team. Equally importantly, it plays according to a long-term plan and strategy. Indian players and Indian cricket lovers are beginning to accept that what is critical is playing well and winning consistently. To reach this consistency, some matches may be lost but this should not take away from the long-term goal. The task of the coach is to build for the future. Chappell coaches in time present with an eye on time future.

Chappell has identified three areas which are crucial and are in dire need of improvement. The areas are fielding, running between the wickets and fitness. Serious observers of the game will readily admit that these areas have been Indian cricket?s weaknesses ever since Indians started playing cricket at the international level. No Indian cricket team has ever entered the field with ten good fielders and one good wicket-keeper. Similarly, far too many batsmen neglect running between the wickets ? some are bad runners, some only run their own runs and some are both. The simple reason for this is that no coach has ever made all batsmen, irrespective of their reputation, go through a rigorous drill of running between the wickets. Fitness, except for a handful, has, of course, been non-existent. Chappell has taken up the challenge. His aim is not popularity but performance. The next year might well be the year of excellence.