Chappell, who headed the reigns of Indian cricket as a coach from 2005 to 2007, said that Virat Kohli is lucky to have a man of Kumble's strengths as his ally and added: "It will be a powerful partnership that I expect will serve India well."
Despite having negligible coaching experience, Kumble was appointed ahead of 56 other applicants who had applied for the post, and nine others who were interviewed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
Recounting his time's with the legendary leg-spinner, Chappell wrote in The Hindu, "He (Kumble) was the heart to Rahul Dravid's soul of the Indian teams in which they played with such distinction. If they had been blessed to have been surrounded by other selfless individuals whose only aim was to serve the team, the Indian teams in which they played would have been impossible to beat."
He further went on to credit Kumble's fighting spirit as one of the key reasons for India's series win in the West Indies in 2006. Chappel even criticised India's work ethics by stating that the system has often relied on natural talent and flair rather than hard work, where there has been a constant effort to look for shortcuts to success.
Chappell, who was often criticised for having to take control of the running of the game from senior players during his tenure as the Indian coach said Kumble knows when to take the backseat. "Kumble has been around long enough to know that the captain is the critical component of any cricket team and that the coach's role is to support the captain to take the load off him to allow for personal preparation time in the lead up to games, but then take a back-seat once the game begins," he said.
"The coach/captain role in cricket is very different from other sports where the coach is the obvious leader. In cricket it is a joint venture off the field, but on the field, the captain must be the boss and must be seen as the boss by his players or his authority will be undermined."
Chappell, who is now serving as Cricket Australia's Natural Talent Manager, believes that one of the biggest challenges for Kumble during his one-year tenure as a coach will be to take care of the fast bowlers. With India playing 13 Tests at home in the coming season, there will be tremendous work load on the pacers.
"Unless fast bowlers are prepared properly for the workload demanded at the highest level before they get there, they will break down," he pointed out.
While praising Kumble's indomitable spirit, the former Australian skipper concluded by saying: "The level of expectation that has greeted Kumble's appointment borders on unrealistic so, unless he gets the support of all of the key stakeholders, it may prove to be too much even for his indomitable spirit."
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