In the world

One could well have called him an honorary Indian after the Winter exploits in 2005. Brought in to give fillip to Indian World Cup hopes, Greg Chappell did inspire the men in blue to great heights in the ODIs. After losing the Peshawar ODI, the Indian team went up another gear to win four in a row and beat Pakistan most convincingly. 

The same fairytale continued against England and a new hero emerged in Raina. But then the decline started, and the Australian's experimentations with the young blood were repeatedly questioned.

The turnaround started on May 20 with the West Indies snatching a win from the jaws of defeat and then going on to beat India 4-1. There was no respite as one of the favourites failed to make it to the final of the Malaysian tri-series, and the semifinal of the Champions Trophy.

Both times, the Australia-West Indies combination spelt its nadir.  Failure to win a single ODI in South Africa was the final nail in the coffin, which led to the comebacks of Laxman (in final ODI) and Sourav, possibly for future ODIs as well.

In Test Arena, India did notch up two remarkable wins -  One-nil series victory in the West Indies after a gap of  35 years and its first ever test win in South Africa at Johannesburg, which could even help it to a series win in the first week of 2007. However, with assignment specially to win the World Cup 2007, Greg may find the going tough in next three months.