Well, what is it then?

One interesting thought in all of the hubbub surrounding Chappell's departure. By and large, a standard line that made the rounds when it came to Indian teams getting coached by furriners was that us brown folk, used to kow-towing for eons, would find it easier to shape up under the paternal, firm hand of one of those folk. Now, the received wisdom making the rounds is that in fact, we are so settled in our ways, so wonderfully impenetrable and intransigent in our cultural styles, afflictions and means of communication, that furriners can't hope to influence our ways of working. Now, I ask you, can both of these theories hold simultaneously? The only thing constant in them is the phenomena they are being asked to explain: the non-performance of the Indian cricketing team. What emerges from Chappell's reign is that the best theories of sporting performance break down occasionally; in the case of the Indian team, the right thing was done: out with the old, in with the new, with plenty of chances given to the latter. But the young folks simply failed to seize the moment. They are too talented a lot to fade away, however, and I'm sure our merry gang of cricketers will be back soon enough to fascinate, irritate and captivate.