Chappell's farewell party will have to wait

The Indian cricket board will give a farewell party to coach Greg Chappell, a top official said here on Thursday. But the party will have to wait for a while as the Australian is taking a flight out of the country on Friday.
Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said a decision to this effect would be taken at the working committee here on Saturday.
"The farewell cannot happen now as he is leaving India tomorrow. But it will be given the next time he is here," Shah said. "We will take a formal decision on this at the working committee here on Saturday."
Chappell resigned on Wednesday on completion of his tumultuous two-year contract with the BCCI, ending with India's exit from the World Cup in the West Indies recently.
There is a precedent of giving farewell to the national coach. Chappell's predecessor John Wright the first foreign coach of the Indian team was presented a handcrafted crystal bar set when he was leaving in April 2005.
The idea of gifting the bar set, which cost nearly Rs.60,000 had come from then Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and current skipper Rahul Dravid, who played key roles in getting him the job.
But now, it is highly unlikely that the players will come forward with a similar move, given their allegedly acrimonious relationship with Chappell, who is a former Australia captain.
During Chappell's stint, India played 62 One-day Internationals, won 32 and lost 27. Three matches ended in a no result. In Tests India did better. They played 18 matches, won seven, lost four and drew seven.