(Former member of 1983 World Cup winning team)

Undated, Apr 5 (UNI) Indian cricket is going through turmoil. It was nothing but tragedy that Greg Chappell had to depart in such unfortunate circumstances.

I am not going to debate whether he was right or wrong but it was an embarrassing moment for Indian cricket for many reasons.

A coach can make mistakes because he is as human as the players.

A coach can lose his cool because he carries immense pressure on his shoulders and is involved with the game all the time, unlike the players, who can afford to relax. A coach takes all the blame because he wants the players to concentrate on their job.

So, is it fair to make a coach 'the scapegoat', when it is the players who failed to deliver when it mattered? We know it is all about 'man management' in today's highly charged and competitive world and that is the reason why it becomes imperative to treat a coach with care, just like the players.

How can you allow the players to dictate who should be the coach? Will he get the respect in the team if his appointment is to be controlled by the players, who, actually, ought to be controlled by the coach. No coach can succeed if he is not given powers to call the shots. He has to have a vote in the selection to ensure that he does not complain tomorrow of not having being given the team of his choice.

You have to manage the team, and not coach it. You need to guide the players. There might be a few technical suggestions to make but not on a big scale. Essentially, it is a matter of having faith in each other, and here the coach plays the important role because he happens to be the senior-most.

Coaching is a specialized job and it is not necessary that all big players make good coaches. A good coach must handle the situation adeptly and here I thought Chappell was well qualified.

Chappell brought dignity and stature to the job. His appointment was seen as the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket but somewhere down the line, he appeared to have lost direction.

The controversy involving him and some of the players was avoidable. The mud-slinging was not good for the image of the game and I was disappointed to see the way things deteriorated. It is not at all good for Indian cricket because we have not learnt to accept criticism.

The cricket fans were angry because the team was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup. Instead of finding out what went wrong, most of us indulged in blame game. It got worse with some irresponsible handling of the situation by everyone involved with the game. From the players to the coach to the administrators, there was complete lack of communication and enentually, it cost Indian cricket dearly.

Moreover, there has been so much talk of the advantage of toss not being utilised by India. Toss can be important but not the reason for your defeat or victory. You may win the toss but you still have to play good cricket to win. We must accept that against Bangladesh our team played poor cricket and lost. The same Bangladesh is now being crushed by the rest. Please remember that a coach can only guide and motivate, ultimately it is the players who have to perform in the field.

However, I will wait for the truth. Indian cricket will benefit if Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Jagdale come out with the truth and give us the correct picture of the state of affairs. I want the game to prosper and it can do so only if our administrators learn to invest in the right people and encourage greater transparency.

Meanwhile, talking of the World Cup, there is little doubt that the lankans are playing good cricket. They are winning the crucial matches and their victory against England shows the importance of man management. They are playing like a team and peaking at the right time.

UNI