Chappell put Indian cricket in black and white: Manjrekar

St Peter's, Antigua, Apr 5 (UNI) Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has come in defence of beleaguered coach Greg Chappell, saying that the Aussie great had shown in black and white what's wrong with Indian cricket.

Manjrekar, who is here as a part of the World Cup commentary team, said it was ''indeed'' sad that Chappell had to ''go in this fashion.'' ''As a self-respecting individual, he felt this was the best way forward. It is sad, we just had him for two year as coach,'' he told Cricinfo in an interview.

Manjrekar was of the view that Chappell's greatest contribution was showing Indian cricket the mirror.

''We get very emotional about our cricket, about our players.

We like to believe we are world beaters, we are so obsessed with our cricket that we don't look around and compare our cricketers with the world.'' Known for his frank and outright views, the former India star said ''what Greg did was to show the nation what was wrong with Indian cricket, what problem you had and told individual players this.'' Asked whether Chappell was right in doing the things he is perceived to have done, Manjrekar replied, ''He is an Australian, that's the Australian way of doing business.'' ''We hired an Australian coach, that's the way he conducts his business. He doesn't have the tact of an Indian or of an Asian.

''He came and said you have this type of ability among your boys, try and make the best use out of it. But the youth he and Dravid experimented with let them down and finally also the results let him down,'' he said.

Manjrekar was of the opinion that Chappell did what something that John Wright did not do during his tenure.

''If you want another foreign coach, then be prepared about his methods. To expect a foreigner to understand our psyche, you better be prepared that he's not going to be like you, to say things that you are used to,'' he remarked with a warning that ''the foreign coach is going to shake you out of your comfort zone, his methods will be different.'' ''There's only so much a coach can do, a person who does not even step on to the field. It will depend on what the players do going out to the field,'' he added.

UNI