Indian Cricket Board interested in retaining Chappell in advisory capacity

At the end of the first leg of the BCCI meeting to review India's debacle in the World Cup, the board issued a statement recognising Greg Chappell's commitment and seeking his continuing assistance to Indian cricket though not in the capacity as coach. "Chappell emphasized the need to promote youngsters and concentrate on fitness and strength for the team to do well in fielding and running between the wickets. Sharad Pawar was of the opinion that Chappell could be associated with Indian cricket and help us implement our long term plans though he's no longer the India coach," the statement said.

Chappell presented his report to the committee where he refused to name any specific player or players as being the main reason for India's defeat. The statement said: "In his report Chappell confined himself to issues and did not make any reference to individual players. [Sanjay] Jagdale was also of the opinion that youngsters should be inducted into the team to improve our cricket."

Earlier, the Indian board's meeting to discuss the team's early exit from the World Cup had begun with all parties attending the meeting arriving at the board headquarters at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, well before the appointed time.

In the absence of any official statements from any of the people concerned, there was much speculation over the future of Chappell. Unconfirmed reports suggested that Chappell was being offered some position in Indian cricket, possibly even coach, but it has been reliably learnt that Chappell would not be leaving Mumbai on Friday night as earlier planned.

Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, appealed to the media not to speculate on what was being discussed at the meeting. "Is it so difficult to wait till Saturday evening," Shah asked presspersons as reported by AFP. "Such reports do not make our job easier."

"If I have to spend all my waking hours denying all that is appearing in the media, I will have no time to attend the meetings," he said in response to queries.

Chappell, who had announced on Wednesday that he would not seek an extension to his contract as the Indian coach, left the meeting at 11.50am IST waving and smiling at the media assembled outside the stadium. Two hours later, Rahul Dravid made his exit as well. Sanjay Jagdale, the team manager for the World Cup, was still at the meeting.