MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 24 The best thing about the timing of the captain-coach spat is that it occurred in the middle of an easy Test series, and the next assignment is a month away. The cooling-off period may yet help to restore some spirit and unity to a seriously downbeat, fractious team.

Those in the team, and those who’ve seen it from close on tour in Zimbabwe, say the dressing room is as bad as it has ever been since Ganguly took charge. It even prompted VVS Laxman to go public about ‘‘negative vibes’’ in the camp. And the specific problem concerns the two main men.

Some stories — whose veracity hasn’t been established — doing the rounds:

• Chappell reportedly blamed Ganguly for India not winning the tri-series final against New Zealand. Ganguly, Chappell insisted, failed to use his resources effectively. The coach had explained the necessity to bring in the slow bowlers as early as in the fifth over, when the Kiwis began the chase.

But the Indian skipper continued with the speedsters and lost the chance to seize the initiative.

• After the Second Test at Harare, the two argued in front of the team. It got quite heated and came down to the two questioning each other’s batting prowess. They were pulled apart by a senior team member.

For the juniors, this has been a bewildering tour. It’s not just the tension between the two men, which they saw right from the time the captain landed up late — and in civvies — for the pre-tour media-briefing.

There was also the new system of the new coach. First, Chappell’s system of experimentation, say juniors — who are usually the subjects of experimentation — has them guessing till just before the match.