Greg Chappell

Calcutta: Former Team India coach Greg Chappell, who quit after the World Cup debacle in March, is returning to the country — as an adviser to the Rajasthan Cricket Association to establish Rajasthan Cricket Academy in Jaipur.

Chappell and former bio-mechanist Ian Frazer have been roped in by the RCA for the academy which will be known as the Centre of Excellence in Jaipur.

The RCA president, Lalit Modi, in a statement on Monday said: “The RCA Centre of Excellence will be operational in October.”

Modi, who is also the cricket board’s vice-president, added that the academy would have five indoor pitches, a full video analysis system and 24 outdoor practice wickets.

It will accommodate 70 students and will have a gymnasium with recreational and eating facilities and an electronic data library.

“The joining of Greg and Ian will take the Rajasthan Cricket Academy to the forefront of development of cricket not just in Rajasthan, but across India and the entire cricket-playing world,” Modi said.

“The programme we have designed with Greg and Ian is quite different and we hope that the method will change the way we train our future cricketers,” he added.

Chappell was quoted in the statement saying: “To be involved with identifying and training the talent of the future in Rajsthan is a wonderful opportunity.”

Modi also said, “A programme for students from outside Rajasthan will be announced from November.”

Chappell said he and Frazer would introduce new techniques and methods as first class and international cricket was becoming demanding. “Training methods of the past will not be suitable for the player of the future who will need to be fitter, stronger and more resilient, more flexible.”

PTI adds from Melbourne: Chappell also described Twenty20 cricket as too “one-dimensional” to address the problems faced by the sport.

“It’s got limitations as a format, it’s very one-dimensional. It’s certainly not the panacea for our ills as some consider it. At this stage it is just about who can hit the ball the furthest and that is not enough to sustain interest,” he was quoted as saying in an Australian newspaper.

Former Australian Test captain Kim Hughes also echoed Chappell’s views, saying the game’s shortest version was detrimental to cricket as a whole.