Indian cricket team coach Greg Chappell expressed disappointment that a private and confidential e-mail he had sent from Zimbabwe to Board of Control for Cricket in India president Ranbir Singh Mahendra did not remain secret.
"I sent a private and confidential e-mail to the president of the BCCI. It did not remain confidential though I would have preferred it to have remained so. At this stage I cannot say much on the matter. I think you (media) get a lot excited at such happenings. It is a fairly normal thing happening in cricket. So things change and sometime in future we can talk about it," he said after arriving from Zimbabwe early Sunday.
He did not want to elaborate on the controversial issue but said he will be attending the meeting of the review committee of the BCCI that has been convened in Mumbai on September 27 and will discuss the happenings on the tours to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Chappell reportedly had criticised India captain Sourav Ganguly severely in the e-mail sent to Mahendra and had gone to the extent of saying that the stylish Kolkata batsman was mentally and physically unfit to be in the Indian team.
Chappell was effusive in his praise of the youngsters in the side, particularly opener Gautam Gambhir, pace bowler Irfan Pathan and wicketkeepers M S Dhoni and Dinesh Karthick.
He also praised the performance of two other youngsters, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, in the one-day format of the game.
"Irfan Pathan did very well in both one-dayers and Tests, and especially in the latter. I think the role model for him is (Sri Lanka's) Chamunda Vaas, someone who bowls well in the subcontinent," he said.
"He is working on his batting and showing positive signs in improving in that department in both tests and one-dayers. Vaas at 20 was not as accomplished as Irfan is. He can only think of improving from here," Chappell said.
Praising Gautam Gambhir as a conventional and organized opening batsman, Chappell said he formed a very good combination with Virender Sehwag.
"Gambhir has got the ability to hit boundaries. He is a well-organised opener, not too flamboyant like we have one in Sehwag. They form a good combination as they play in domestic tournaments too. Hopefully, they will develop together," he said.
On the overall performance in Zimbabwe, Chappell said that though the team did not win the one-day tournament preceding the Test series, they had their chances in the final but could not take advantage.
"We went there with the intention of winning both Tests and one-dayers. We did not win the one-dayers but there were positive signs the Tests went the way we hoped. We wanted to win them well and it happened," Chappell said.
Chappell said that fielding was not a concern till the last morning of the Test series when they dropped a few catches in the slip cordon.
"We thought we were catching well but we dropped a few on the last morning. We need to catch everything and stop everything," he said.
He said fielding and building partnerships are two of the main areas the team is working on.
"We are going to drop some catches but should strive to keep them to the minimum."
He said one-day specialist Dhoni is an exciting prospect but whether he could translate this potential to the Tests remains to be seen.
"We are lucky to have two excellent keepers in Dhoni and Karthick," he added.
About Zaheer Khan, who looked a little below par at the first Test in Bulawayo, Chappell said the left arm fast bowler seemed to have got into rhythm towards the last part of the Test series in Zimbabwe.
A few players need to get fitter and better prepared for their role in the team, he said, in reference to the injuries sustained by the medium pacers.
"We need the youngsters to push the old. We are looking forward to the 2007 World Cup for which we need a good mix of young and experienced players."
He said that the team is trying to look at Sehwag as an impact player.
"In both the finals (in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe) he got across to a flying start. Had someone else gone on to play a big innings, we would have probably won both the finals," he said.
Chappell and some of the support staff of the team arrived in Mumbai on Sunday. The 14 players had already arrived on Saturday.
