TEST FOR CHAPPELL?

Greg Chappell may have scripted an enviable record for India in ODIs (23 wins, 11 losses), but the longer version of the game remains an area of concern for the Australian legend with the last-day collapse in Karachi and the meek surrender in Mumbai against England, this year.

His only comfortable Test series wins were against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, both struggling to improve their rankings on the ICC chart. With talk of World Cup 2007 featuring in almost all of Chappell’s conversations, the big question is whether the Aussie’s focus is one-dimensional.

Says former Indian coach Ajit Wadekar, ‘‘Basically, the importance has shifted to one-day cricket and Test cricket remains neglected. Every other day talk of World Cup takes centrestage, so in this atmosphere, Test cricket becomes a casualty.’’

Wadekar also blames certain strategical errors for the Test debacle. ‘‘In Tests, they are placing right people in wrong fielding positions resulting in a number of dropped catches. For instance, Yuvraj Singh, in the Mumbai Test against England, was placed in close-in positions, while he is good at the cover and point regions,’’ he says.

The silver lining, though, is the emergence of fast bowlers. Though India still lacks tearaway pacers, a pre-requisite in Tests, the considerable crowd in the bench could help India overcome the deficit. “The bench strength is improving, we just need to be patient with them. Once they gain experience, it will help India in the long run,’’ says Wadekar.

BEYOND THE SUB-CONTINENT?

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