Chappelli and the write line

Ian Chappell working on his column during the India v Australia Wills World Cup game at the Wankhede Stadium on February 27, 1996. Pic/Nitin Mujumdar

In late 2001, I took a call from the late Mark Mascarenhas, the president of WorldTel.

Mark, a mate of Ian Chappell, asked me if mid-day would like to publish the former Australian captain's columns which were appearing in another newspaper, but only in Delhi. Of course, Chappell started writing way back in November 1973, for Cricketer Australia magazine even while he was his country's captain.

Last Sunday, 51 years later, he wrote his final column in this paper, ending a journalistic career that was as brilliant as his cricketing exploits.

I told Mark that as much I would want Chappell back (he wrote for us briefly in the early 1990s), I didn't think we'd have the budget for a big name like him. Mark put the ball in my court for a price, cringed at the modest fee we could pay, and finally agreed - all in a three-minute conversation. Sadly, that was the last time I spoke to Mark, for he died a few months later in a road accident near Nagpur.

Chappell was well into his ‘second innings' at mid-day at the time of Mark's death. He sent me a tribute on Mark with a note that he didn't want to be paid for it.

In later years, I was to receive several such ‘free of cost' tributes.

In 2003, my then editor Aakar Patel called me to ask how much we pay Chappell. On hearing the figure, he said, "Double it. He's worth much more."

While Chappell was loyal to those he committed to, he never compromised on integrity or anything that could endanger the game. He was on the commentary team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2009-10 held in South Africa. In the last two matches before the semi-finals, India and West Indies clashed at Johannesburg on September 30, 2009 for a 2.30 pm local time game while Australia's match against Pakistan at Centurion was scheduled on the same day at 9.30 am local time. Chappell felt the two matches not being held concurrently was wrong. "Obviously, a concurrent start isn't an ideal situation for the television rights holder, but the integrity of the game must always come first," he wrote, not bothering for one moment what the television bosses would think of him.

The piece that turned out to be most controversial was the column he wrote exclusively for us after India crashed out of the 2007 World Cup. "Before anybody else makes a decision on what will happen to Tendulkar, the player himself has to have a good long look in the mirror and decide what he's trying to achieve in the game," Chappell wrote.

As expected, his views on Tendulkar did not attract wholesome agreement here in India. One former India cricketer even said Chappell was jealous of Tendulkar's success. Chappell was used to the idea that his won't always be the popular view. I remember him telling me of a senior Australia player taking exception to his strong views on the eventual champions' iffy start to the 1999 World Cup. "We need to have a chat," the senior pro said to Chappell at breakfast. Chappell took a piece of paper, wrote down his entire schedule, including which hotels he would be staying at and asked the player to get in touch with him as per the schedule sheet.

He did not hear from the player again.

The foibles of the ICC were a pet hate for Chappell. For years he was frustrated that they couldn't come up with a Test championship, forcing him to write in the book, Chappelli - The Cutting Edge that if Test cricket dies, it would be an inside job.

Chappell learnt to keep pressing for change from spin great-turned-journalist Bill ‘Tiger' O'Reilly. "In my early days in the press box he [Tiger] told me, ‘Son, you are in a privileged position. If you see something about the game you don't agree with, write about it. If they don't take any notice then write about it again and if they still don't take any notice, write about it again,' "wrote Chappell in his 2005 book, A Golden Age.

If I were to pick my favourite Ian Chappell piece, it would be the Foreword in his mate Terry ‘TJ' Jenner's book. Jenner bowled leg-spin for Australia and South Australia with Chappell as his captain and landed up on the wrong side of the law before going on to become Shane Warne's go-to coach. When Jenner was imprisoned for embezzlement, the only visitor he feared meeting was his captain, but Chappell reassured him that he didn't have to be ashamed of anything.

Chappell wrote in the Foreword: "Why did I support TJ when he was going through a rough time? I felt he needed help, rather than incarceration. And finally I guess because once you're captain, you're their skipper for all time.

"It was my job to be there to help and to listen when a player had a problem and in return I expected them to play hard for me on the field. If you expect 100 per cent, you have to give 100 per cent. It was one of my rules as captain."

Chappell gave 100 per cent to his columns. His views would be layered with history lessons and there would be a measured use of statistics.

My inbox will no longer be graced by his column, unfailingly filed every second Saturday morning.

When he called me two weeks ago to say he's done with writing, he asked what I would prefer - let the last piece sent on February 8 go down as his final one or a farewell column. I requested for the latter and what a fine piece he wrote!

Mark Mascarenhas' call started Chappell's close association with mid-day and Chappell's recent call to announce his ‘retirement' ended it. But Chappell won't retire from being a deep, unbiased thinker of the game, so bat on Chappelli.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.