OTD | Ian Chappell, one of Australia’s finest captains was born

On this day in 1943, Ian Chappell was born in South Australia’s Unley. The star player has been one of the best produced by Australia in the longest format of the game. He was one of those players who did well both as a player and as a captain. He led Australia in the ODI World Cup 1975 in which they entered the final. As a batter, he was capable of winning matches from his end.

When ODIs started in the 1970s, Ian was one of the earliest pioneers of batting in the shorter format. He was aggressive for his time and showed how one must bat in the then shortest format of the game. But in Tests, he was one of the best the world had produced till then. In the middle order, he could save the team from collapse by batting in an aggressive way.

Chappell played for Australia in 91 international matches. In Tests, he played 75 matches and scored 5345 runs at a good batting average of 42.4. He had better raw stats in ODIs in the limited games he played. Chappell played 16 ODIs and scored 673 runs at a batting average of 48.1, and a batting SR of 77.0. As a captain, he had a tough mentality and often got the best from his players.

He nearly replicated his stats from the first class which were fantastic. Ian played 262 games in the FC level and scored 19680 runs at an average of 48.4. In the List A format, he played just 37 matches and scored 1277 runs at a batting average of 39.9. At times, he used to be a handy bowler and broke some crucial partnerships. 

Chappell is regarded as one of the best fielders in the slip cordon. The fielding standards under his leadership were set high for the Australian side. Post his retirement, Ian became a popular analyst and a commentator. His brother, Greg Chappell, became one of the greatest batters of all-time. Together, Greg and Ian are considered to be the greatest brother duo in the history of cricket.

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