It was in May 2005 that the Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to rope in former Australian captain Greg Chappell as the coach of the national team. The Aussie had big shoes to fill in as he was replacing John Wright, who had enjoyed a successful stint with the Indian cricket team for a few years. Wright had decided not to renew his contract and the then-captain Sourav Ganguly was also keen on having Chappell on board.
The recruitment was seen as one which would change Indian cricket for the better. But as we all know in hindsight, it is exactly the opposite that happened. Chappell and Ganguly were never on the same page and a few months after the Aussie's appointment, the iconic left-hander was sacked as skipper.
The sacking hurt the morale of the team, and India went into the 2007 World Cup a disorganised side with Rahul Dravid as the captain. It showed in their performances too as they crashed out of the quadrennial event in the group stages owing to losses against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The whole team faced a lot of criticism after the debacle in West Indies, and Chappell resigned from his post after being put under a lot of pressure. But there were some players who made their debuts in the Greg Chappell era; a few of those went on to make it big while the others faded into the darkness without leaving a mark.
Here's a look at what those debutants are up to now:
#9 Wasim Jaffer
The Mumbai batsman was a talisman for his domestic side in the Ranji and Duleep trophies way back in 2006. He made his debut in One-Day Internationals that year but managed to play only two. He could amass just 10 runs from those games at an average of five, and never ever played in a One-Dayer again.
Nowadays Jaffer plies his trade for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy. He is presently 38 and might retire soon. Also noteworthy is the fact that Jaffer played in 32 Test matches for India scoring 1,944 runs, with the highest score of 212.
#8 Venugopal Rao
Rao made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on 30 July 2005. He was a crafty cricketer who could bowl a few right arm off-spinners and was quite handy with the willow towards the end of an innings. Rao played in 16 games for India, scoring 218 runs. But he was never a regular in the side.
He, however, was a huge hit in the Indian Premier League when he first played for the now defunct Deccan Chargers. He is presently 34 and plying his trade for the state of Gujarat in Ranji Trophy; he last played a first-class match on November 23, 2015.
#7 Robin Uthappa
The Karnataka-born willower was another one of the young batsmen whom Chappell tried out during his reign. Uthappa was handed his ODI debut on 15 April 2006 against England. From then on he featured in 46 ODIs for the country, scoring 934 runs with the highest score of 86. He was one of the key members who helped India win the World Twenty 20 in 2007.
Presently, Uthappa is a go-to man for Indian Premier League (IPL) giants Kolkata Knight Riders with the willow. The opener has been brilliant for the purple and gold brigade in the past few seasons and is getting better by the day.
But it has not been a pleasant ride on the international front for Uthappa. He last played an ODI in July 2015 against Zimbabwe.
#6 VRV Singh
The Punjabi right-arm pacer stormed into the international scene in 2006 after putting together huge success in domestic cricket. He played in five Tests and two ODIs but was plagued with injuries throughout his short career. The injuries also hampered his domestic career, and he would often find himself out for months.
He last played for Punjab against Jammu and Kashmir in a Ranji trophy game in 2014. Many say he had the potential to be one of India’s finest, but the fulfilment of his promise never materialized. In the IPL he represented Kings XI Punjab on a few occasions.
#5 Munaf Patel
Many hailed him as the Indian ‘Glenn McGrath’ for his bowling action, which was similar to the great Australian’s. But he could never quite reach the heights of his idol, to say the least.
Munaf started off brilliantly in 2006 and was almost a regular in the side till 2011. That year too, he was one of the keys to India winning the World Cup. But astonishingly, the fast-bowler went missing from the international scene after that.
He still plies his trade with Baroda in domestic cricket but otherwise he enjoys his time in his village.
#4 S. Sreesanth
Greg Chappell had shown a lot of faith in the pacer ever since his debut in October 2005. Sreesanth went on to play 27 Test matches and 53 One-Dayers for his national side including the 2011 World Cup final, where India beat Sri Lanka. That was also his last game in a blue shirt.
Sreesanth was quite a popular figure in the IPL too. The biggest shock in his volatile career came when he was named among three Rajasthan Royals players arrested in May 2013, along with Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, for the alleged fulfilling of promises made to bookmakers in the IPL.
Sreesanth was subsequently banned for life by the BCCI disciplinary committee who also found him guilty of spot-fixing. Having also featured in a reality dance show, Sreesanth is now a BJP politician.
#3 RP Singh
RP Singh is easily one of the finest left-arm seamers that the country has seen. The Indian is presently playing for the Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League, but he made his debut way back in 2006 during the Greg Chappell era.
He featured in 14 Tests and 58 One-Dayers, picking a total of 109 wickets. He has also bagged 15 wickets from 10 T20s and was instrumental in India’s success at the 2007 World T20.
#2 Suresh Raina
The little left-hander made his One-Day debut against Sri Lanka on 30 July 2005. Since then Raina has played in 223 ODIs where he has scored 5,568 runs. He was one of those very few cricketers who blossomed in the Greg Chappell era, and he has truly made a name for himself in limited overs cricket.
In 62 T20s he has amassed 1,203 runs, whereas he has played in just 18 Test matches and has scored only 768 runs. He was a part of the World Cup-winning side in 2011 and is till now quite a popular figure in the IPL. He presently leads the Gujarat Lions in the franchise-based league.
#1 MS Dhoni
He might have made his One-Day debut under Ganguly (captain), but his Test debut was under coach Chappell against Sri Lanka in 2005. Dhoni slowly cemented his place with his glovework and hard hitting abilities, and he went on to captain India in the World T20 in 2007 which India won. After the success in the shorter format, Dhoni was also given the captaincy for Test matches.
From 2005 to 2014 Dhoni played 90 Test matches for his country where he scored 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09. He also effected 38 stumpings and took 256 catches during that period.
On the ODI front, he led India to the 2011 World Cup win where in the finals he smashed an unbeaten 91. From 278 ODIs he has 9,989 runs till now. Though he has retired from Test cricket, he is still a match-winner in the limited overs format.
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