Dravid is not my puppet, he runs the show: Chappell

New Delhi, Nov 14 (UNI) Rubbishing allegations that he pulls the strings from behind and skipper Rahul Dravid is a mere puppet, an irked Greg Chappell said a captain should always have the final say and the case is no different with Team India.

''We can't expect people who are removed a step or more from the team to understand what we're trying to do. Rahul is an extremely talented and experienced cricketer who has one of the toughest jobs in cricket - captaining India.

''As for the comment that Rahul's a puppet and I'm running the show, only people who don't know either of us will say that. It's an insult to Rahul Dravid to suggest he is anything other than his own man,'' Chappell told cricinfo.com before leaving for South Africa.

Elaborating further, the Aussie said a captain should walk into the middle with a team of his choice and same has been the case with Dravid.

''Thankfully our philosophies are quite close and most of the time we agree on things. But when we disagree, when it comes to the point of deciding on a position in the team for example, it will always be his decision that is the final decision because he is the captain.

''If he walks out onto the field with a team he's not happy with it reduces our chances of succeeding. It's much better for me to be unhappy about the team than it is for him to be. I've said it many times before, and I'll continue to say it, the captain is the most important part of the cricket team,'' Chappell explained.

On Yuvraj Singh's injury which ruled the dashing bat out of the South Africa tour, the coach tried to see it through a positive outlook.

''Yuvraj's injury is a disaster for him in that it has come to him at the perfectly wrong time. But who is to say it doesn't become the best thing that has happened to him and make him re-evaluate his love of cricket, his desire to be a good player in both forms of the game and it motivates him like he's never been motivated before? ''It gives people a chance to take on more responsibility,' he added.

And India may have failed to reach the Champions Trophy semifinals but the coach believes it was not disastrous.

''Nothing's a disaster, everything's an opportunity. I keep reading about the Champions Trophy being a disaster. Disappointing, yes, but not a disaster,'' he said.

His experimentation may have come in for criticism but Chappell is hardly perturbed.

''There's not a sport in the world where you don't see a squad adjusting its line-up according to the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and/or the conditions,'' he said.

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