Former BCCI chief selector and Team India manager Chandu Borde has recently revealed how he managed to reinstall positivity and unity in the national team to revive the Indian cricket’s fortune after Greg Chappell's era.
Chappell's stint as Indian cricket team head coach (2005-07) remains the worst days in Indian cricket history both on and off the field– from having controversial relations with then captain Sourav Ganguly to accused of breaking the unity between the player which led India to disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign.
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The Aussie also had a fallout with several members of the team including Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, and Yuvraj Singh.
Borde, former Indian cricketer, also recently recalled the tough task given to him by the BCCI during the darkest days of India when he was appointed Team Manager in 2007 following Chappell’s sacking.
He also shared his experiences about the various roles – manager, coach and selector in the Indian cricket team after the Chappell fiasco. There was a most critical task for Borde to inculcate trust and a belief of self-confidence in the team and he managed to restore the same post- Chappell era.
Former Team managed also recalled that he called a team meeting and asked all the senior players like Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid to express their feelings and how to proceed ahead of the England tour and that did work, as India won the three-Test series 1-0 – first Test series win in 21 years in the UK.
Borde said in the latest interview with Sportskeeda: “What happened, one day in England just when the tour started, I called a meeting of all the players in the morning before going to the ground. When everything was sitting, I first asked the masseur what he felt about the team. Then I moved to other players asking them what we should do. I asked Ganguly, I asked Sachin, I asked Dravid. This way I started. And I allowed them to express their feelings.”
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Recalling how he stressed the importance of unity and asked Indian players to play together, the former cricketer said: “I told them what we need to do, what we want to do. You are a good bunch of boys; you must do something. That time I told them that our motto should be three Ws – ‘We will win’.”
He continued, “These boys respected me, they came together and we had a wonderful series. We won the series, in fact after such a long time. A lot of people did not give enough credit to our performance. I think 11 years or 21 years we had not won in England. But that series we won in 2007, I am really proud of these boys. One thing I liked about them, there was no bickering and everybody was very happy. And being a cricketer, I knew what was their requirement. I only used to have a little chat with them and pat them.”
On Chappell, the former India selector said: “I asked some of the Board officials and they said that something went wrong with Greg Chappell. The players were not very happy. They told me that there was a bit of a misunderstanding amongst the players. There was an inner fight that was going on. I had been their manager, selector, and coach sometimes.”
Borde also recalled how he was in a state of shock after hearing the news that he was going to England as the manager of the Indian cricket team from then BCCI President Sharad Pawar.
He signed off by saying, “After about 5 minutes, I got a call from Pawar Sahab. He said - 'Chandu, you are going as a manager of the Indian team'. I couldn't believe my ears. That came as a terrific pleasant shock I would say. The surprise is different, I was so taken aback that my wife asked what had happened.”
(With Sportskeeda Inputs)
