Thursday, July 21, 2005

My Interview with Greg Chappell

It's been a month since Greg Chappell, the master batsman and former Australian captain, took over as India's coach. He and his wife chose to make Bangalore their home during their stay in India. The team just completed their traning in Bangalore's own Chinnaswamy Stadium. In a couple of days, they are headed to Sri Lanka to compete in the Tri-angular series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

And today, I interviewed Chappell for my radio station! The interview lasted nearly an hour and that time was exclusively assigned to our interview. A part of that interview was already broadcast today and the entire interview is scheduled to go on air in the next couple of days.

It was a fantastic experience to talk to Chappell. The man was generous with his time and thoughtful with his responses. He's convinced about his philosophy of coaching cricketers (www.chappellway.com) and from all reports, he's made everyone (including the BCCI) aware of how he likes to operate.

One good thing I already see from his presence here as coach: VVS Laxman is back on the roster. Hope he stays there for a long time. He deserves it. It's an absolute pleasure to watch him play.

I think I might post the transcript of the interview once it goes on air.

5 comments:

Sourin Rao said...

Suj
Please, please, please post the transcript. Do u guys have streaming audio ? That way I could catch the interview on the web.
I assume that we'd do much better under Chappel than we did under Wright. Wright was nice and all, but not too aggressive, IMHO.
Did he give any dirt on the team mechanics ? Saurav and Sachin ought to go.
And Carmella takes Tony back and Ariana is lying with the fishes, in the Sopranos. Season 6 starts in Jan.
Thanks for the bday wishes for Sidharth
Sourin

Sujatha Bagal said...

Sourin,

You're welcome. :)

Bless you for that Sopranos update.

I'll check about the streaming audio. A few of my friends have asked and I keep forgetting to check. Failing that, I will post the transcript.

I do hope we fare better under Chappell and I think we will too. He has a holistic approach to cricket ("get strong in the mind before you get to the technique" types) and he has a high regard for the team. Plus, even minus Tendulkar and possibly Ganguly on this series, I think we have a fantastic, young roster. I don't see how the team would not thrive under him.

Anyway, here's crossing our fingers.

P.S. I think my comments are getting to be as long as the posts!

Anonymous said...

hi suj

got to know tat ur interviewing Chappell...

hm..will try to catch it...

tECHJ

Sujatha Bagal said...

Hi Avinash,

The interview will most probably be rebroadcast, at night this time ("back by popular demand"!!). I will leave a comment on your blog when I can confirm the date and time.

Ciao!

Sujatha Bagal said...

sorry anish, referred to you by the wrong name! will stick to techJ in the future!