Bangalore: More than anything else, Greg Chappell’s man-management skills will be on test during the two years he’s going to coach Team India.

That, at least, is the opinion of a predecessor ? Madanlal, who did the job (though with a different designation) for a year till October 1997. He also wore that hat when the UAE qualified for the 1996 World Cup.

More recently, the World Cup-winning allrounder has been coaching Delhi.

“Chappell’s credentials are excellent, still let’s not forget he has the experience of only coaching a state (South Australia)... It will be a lot different in our dressing room as we have some of the biggest names,” Madanlal told The Telegraph.

In the city as a coach ? others being buddy Ashok Malhotra and Raghuram Bhat ? for the under-22 camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), he added: “It’s one thing to prepare a superb CD and quite another to actually interact with the big boys...”

Madanlal, of course, accepted that the Board had chosen the “best man.” He said: “An Australian is bound to be most suited as he’s a product of a system to be envied... It’s a high-pressure job here.”

Asked whether he favoured a desi understudy, Madanlal replied with an emphatic “no.” His point being, the dressing room ought not to get crowded.

“I wish Chappell well and, as an Indian, want our team to do better. However, I’ve been baffled by this hype. It seems the coach is going to do everything and this ‘expectation’ will weigh on Chappell,” he remarked.

Incidentally, Madanlal and Malhotra attended Chappell’s “lectures” while completing the Level III coach’s course in Australia a few years ago.

Chappell, by the way, dropped in at the NCA camp on Friday. He didn’t mingle with the trainees, but is surely going to do so in the next few days.

The month-long camp began on Wednesday and Malhotra has requested the new Team India coach to give a critical “look-over.”

Chappell also spent some time at the KSCA Academy, housed at the Chinnaswamy itself. He was particularly interested in the work being put in by its director, Jawagal Srinath.