Greg Chappell did not know how to run an international team, says VVS Laxman

[Hitman]

Greg Chappell was “rigid and inflexible” in his approach as a coach and did not know how to run an international team, former India batsman V V S Laxman has claimed in his book.

Laxman, in his recently launched autobiography ‘281 And Beyond’, reveals that under the former Australian coach team India was divided into two or three factions and there was a serious trust deficit.

“The coach had his favourites, who were well looked after, while the others were left to fend for themselves. The team had disintegrated before our eyes,” he writes.

“Greg’s entire stint had been cause for bitterness. He was rigid and inflexible in his approach, and didn’t know how to run an international team. He often seemed to forget that it was the players who played the game and were stars, not the coach,” Laxman notes in the book which he has co-authored with cricket writer R Kaushik.

Chappell’s controversial stint with the Indian team ran from May 2005 to April 2007.

The book is a candid account of Laxman’s cricketing journey right from his early childhood days to playing international Cricket, to the IPL and to being a commentator. The 44-year-old veteran cricketer touches upon a plethora of topics such as dressing-room meltdowns and champagne evenings, the exhilaration of playing with and against the best in the world, the nuances of batting in different formats and on various surfaces, the learnings with coach John Wright and the rocky times under his successor Chappell.

“Greg Chappell arrived in India to a groundswell of goodwill and support. He left the team in tatters, having played an influential part in the worst phase of my playing career. Results on the field might suggest that his methods worked to some extent, but those results had nothing to do with our coach,” Laxman asserts.

“He was brusque and abrasive, highly opinionated and rigid in his thinking. His man-management skills were non-existent. He quickly sowed further seeds of discontent in an already diffident team...I will always respect Greg Chappell the batsman. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Greg Chappell the coach,” he recalls.

Link: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...-vvs-laxman/story-wG5IAKELOm4qX3GtpOhdRM.html

 

[Hitman]

When it looks like a duck, quacks like, and swims like a duck, it is indeed a duck.

Has there every been a single Indian player who played under Chappell's tenure as coach who has said anything even remotely nice about him?

 

[Last Monetarist]

Has Dravid ever said anything on the record about Chappell's tenure as coach ?

 

[Hitman]

Has Dravid ever said anything on the record about Chappell's tenure as coach ?

No, not yet. I hope he does if he ever decides to write a book. He is one of the very few players who has said nothing about the topic yet.

 

[Saurav]

Has Dravid ever said anything on the record about Chappell's tenure as coach ?

Too nice to do so.

Under a better coach,Dravid would have produced fantastic results.Definitely best on field Indian captain I saw

 

[Oligochaetes]

Any Indian cricketer releases a book, Greg Chappel gets headlines
Any Australian cricketer releases a book, Monkey-Gate gets headlines
Any English cricketer releases a book, Kevin Peterson gets headlines
Any Pakistani cricketer releases a book..........?

 

[MMHS]

Wasn’t that evident from the utilities of Greg by CA (ACB)?

To me, Greg is the best ever AUS batsman (ok, 2nd best), one of the most influential Captains, a certified ATG and a role model professional. Yet, he was never appointed as AUS head coach - and he has been utilised probably in every other scopes - Selector, Academy director, junior team coach, technical team member.....

Like his elder brother, an outstanding individual with highest level of commitment, work ethics & cricket intelligence; but just not tuned for a Coaching job at international level for a different personality trait. Their younger bro Trevor wasn’t a cricketer remotely close to elder siblings, but was definitely a better coach.

 

[jadaja]

this is totatlly ganging up on a guy who wanted to do well for the team and get rid of these superstar egos.

Don't believe this nonsense vvs is spouting or any other fab five for that matter.He made them uncomfortable and wanted them to keep earning their places in the team.Laxman did nothing against many teams.

 

[happydavy]

this is totatlly ganging up on a guy who wanted to do well for the team and get rid of these superstar egos.

Don't believe this nonsense vvs is spouting or any other fab five for that matter.He made them uncomfortable and wanted them to keep earning their places in the team.Laxman did nothing against many teams.

Kinda agree with you, though not entirely as I think VVS is a legend in his own right.

The reason most of them didn't like Chapel was because he demanded objective performance to be part of the squad. I find it a little odd when cricketers call themselves as stars, as Laxman is talking about players being stars. In the end, it's the team performance that should matter and not how big a star one is.

 

[rhony]

When it looks like a duck, quacks like, and swims like a duck, it is indeed a duck.

Has there every been a single Indian player who played under Chappell's tenure as coach who has said anything even remotely nice about him?

No one wants to support Greg and go against Sachin and Ganguly. Irfan Pathan was a big beneficiary and thrived under Greg. Dhoni too.

 

[Saurav]

No one wants to support Greg and go against Sachin and Ganguly. Irfan Pathan was a big beneficiary and thrived under Greg. Dhoni too.

thrived? Greg turned him into an AR forcing him to bat at 3 and he lost all his bowling under him

 

[ezhil]

Greg was trying to instill some fighting spirit in the game .our inflated egos did the 2007 early exit

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

No one wants to support Greg and go against Sachin and Ganguly. Irfan Pathan was a big beneficiary and thrived under Greg. Dhoni too.

Irfan Pathan was the biggest loss under Greg Chappell. He even opened for India in a test match lol.

 

[Saurav]

Greg was trying to instill some fighting spirit in the game .our inflated egos did the 2007 early exit

Which was under him.Straight after we won England away series and T20 WC with many players of ODI WC in the team

 

[BaankeJi]

Even Munaf Patel was spoiled by Chappel. He was asked to bowl slow.
In domestics, he used to be much faster.

 

[Hitman]

No one wants to support Greg and go against Sachin and Ganguly. Irfan Pathan was a big beneficiary and thrived under Greg. Dhoni too.

Thanks for the great insight. How about Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer? All of them have said how much of a disaster Chappell was.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Even Munaf Patel was spoiled by Chappel. He was asked to bowl slow.
In domestics, he used to be much faster.

He used to bowl 140k+ effortlessly.

 

[rhony]

Thanks for the great insight. How about Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer? All of them have said how much of a disaster Chappell was.

Did Dhoni or Irfan say anything? Don't think so. I didn't say Greg was not a disaster. Just said he gave opportunities to youngsters like Dhoni and Irfan in particular. No one can survive giving orders to the ego bloated heads in Indian cricket. Imagine a foreign coach giving directions to Kohli now.

 

[rhony]

Thanks for the great insight. How about Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer? All of them have said how much of a disaster Chappell was.

Also, the people you mentioned are firmly in Ganguly's camp. He was instrumental in their success.

 

[Savak]

VVS Laxman like Dravid is a thorough gentleman inside and outside the field, for him to be compelled to speak out against Greg Chappell speaks volumes of how scarring his tenure was for the players who played during that time period. Dravid probably lost a lot of respect during that time period with a lot of his fellow team mates given how blindly he went about nodding to everything Greg Chappell was doing to the team.

Chappell has been an utter failure and embarrassment apart from his career as a cricketer.

 

[Hitman]

VVS Laxman like Dravid is a thorough gentleman inside and outside the field, for him to be compelled to speak out against Greg Chappell speaks volumes of how scarring his tenure was for the players who played during that time period. Dravid probably lost a lot of respect during that time period with a lot of his fellow team mates given how blindly he went about nodding to everything Greg Chappell was doing to the team.

Chappell has been an utter failure and embarrassment apart from his career as a cricketer.

Have you read abut this incident that VVS mentioned in 2014 regarding Chappell?

"Chappell took Indian cricket backwards," Laxman told NDTV in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

"This happened in 2006 at the Wankhede Stadium when India were playing England. Yuvraj Singh was picked ahead of me and five bowlers were fielded. We were going to the West Indies for a four-Test series after that and he asked me if I would open.

"I mentioned that back in 2000, I had decided I would not open anymore after it didn't work for me in the first four years. I was consistent in the middle-order. Chappell asked me my age and said - Don't you think 31 is too young an age to sit at home? I had a very good run under him. I was the second highest run-scorer under him," Laxman said.

Link: https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/gre...-cricket-backwards-vvs-laxman-to-ndtv-1510175



It's one thing for a coach to expect more from his players, completely different for him to disrespect his players and expect to get away with it. In this case he outright disrespected one of the most beloved Indian players of our time. Did Chappell seriously expect to treat his players like this, and for the players to behave like obedient little disciples?

 

[Slog]

Greg Chappell seems to be every ex-Indian cricketers favourite punching bag whenever they are losing relevance.

In my opinion he actually wasn’t that bad. In ODIs he built a very exciting team with several youngsters which went on a long winning streak.

If I remember correctly youngsters like Irfan Pathan, Raina, Munaf Patel, Uthappa, RP Singh, Dhoni etc all either made their debuts under him or became regulars under him.

Prior to Chappell, India was going through a period of no changes and where you would see the same old faces being recycled every year. Chappell introduced young blood and excitement to the team and also broke the old boys club.

 

[TM Riddle]

No one wants to support Greg and go against Sachin and Ganguly. Irfan Pathan was a big beneficiary and thrived under Greg. Dhoni too.

Greg was responsible for ruining Irfan.

 

[last_knight]

Has Dravid ever said anything on the record about Chappell's tenure as coach ?

May be when next time India tours.

 

[MenInG]

Greg Chappell is a name in Indian cricket that everyone would like to forget. His stint as head coach was marred in controversy as most of the cricketers lamented his ways and strategy at that time. His issues with former captain Sourav Ganguly are well-known and in the past few years other cricketers have also come out to lambast the Aussie great. However, recently Chappell was in the news as he talked about MS Dhoni’s early days in the national team.

Chappell had stated in an interview that he used to advise the young Dhoni to play along the ground more instead of trying to hit every ball to the boundary. That interview prompted a strong response from Harbhajan Singh, who said that the former coach was playing different games.

Now, Yuvraj Singh has also come out and talked about the statement, inferring that Chappell asked both Dhoni and him to not hit any sixes in the last 10 overs.

Ganguly wasn’t the only one who had his issues with the former Australian batsman. India off-spinner Harbhajan on Wednesday termed Chappell’s era as the worst days of Indian cricket.

Responding to a Hindustantimes.com article, Harbhajan tweeted: “He asked Dhoni to play along the ground coz coach was hitting everyone out the park.. He was playing different games.” He followed his tweet with a hashtag #worstdaysofindiancricketundergreg.

Chappell who became India’s head coach in May 2005, quit in 2007 just two days after claiming he won’t. Chappell had sent out an email to BCCI on April 2007 to announce his sudden resignation.

Under Chappell India bowed out of the group stages off the ODI World Cup 2007 but also had the record of winning the most number of ODIs while chasing at that time.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...d-statement/story-DmXNdqC41nxP8VPjWO9MGI.html

 

[Ab Fan]

It seems the Indian cricket players of that time are still bitter of Greg Chappell. It was indeed a down phase and wierdly when Chappell resigned and Dravid didn't had any coach to assist him, India toured England and won the test series in 2007.

Chappell may have his own style of leadership but it simply didn't worked for the Indian team of 2000s and they had to suffer a bad patch in mid-00s before they started recovering post the 2007 World Cup debacle.

 

[Varun]

Indian cricket always had these personality differences in every era -

Gavaskar vs Kapil
Sachin vs Azhar
Ganguly vs Dravid
Dhoni vs Sehwag
Kohli vs Rohit

The reason this issue got sorted so smoothly is because Rohit Sharma is a very humble man and someone without any ego. Every young player in the team finds him more friendly and approachable than Kohli.

What happened between Ganguly and Dravid? I don't recall anything.

 

[Rajdeep]

What happened between Ganguly and Dravid? I don't recall anything.

Have you not followed Indian cricket during Greg Chapell era?

 

[Varun]

Have you not followed Indian cricket during Greg Chapell era?

Of course I did, but nothing happened between Ganguly and Dravid directly.

A few years ago, long after both had retired Ganguly referred to Dravid as a "yes man" but that's all I recall.

 

[Rajdeep]

Of course I did, but nothing happened between Ganguly and Dravid directly.

A few years ago, long after both had retired Ganguly referred to Dravid as a "yes man" but that's all I recall.

When Ganguly was removed from captaincy and the team by Chappel, Dravid didnt support him. That had miffed dada and he was upset with him.

Then the controversy peaked when we toured Pakistan in 2006. Dravid was skipper and Ganguly was making a comeback. Dravid had decided to open in that test series along with Viru. It was a flat pancake in 1st test in Lahore and ended with a draw where Ganguly didnt even got a chance to bat. Then he was suddenly dropped from 2nd test in Faislabad but was recalled again in 3rd test in Karachi. Looking at the scorecard in 1st two test matches, curators decided to prepare a spicy greenish wicket in Karachi. India lost the toss and needed to bat first. Dravid who was opening all tour, suddenly ask Ganguly to open in that game. Ganguly, who was yet to face a ball in that series was not happy to suddenly face new ball in a fresh green wicket and was caught arguing with Dravid in the middle of the ground. It was obviously a plan by Greg Chappel who wanted Ganguly to fail and was shooting gun from Dravid's shoulder.

It was a very brief controversy though and everything sorted between them as soon as Chappel left. Dada and Dravid are great friends now and both still doing great job for Indian cricket

 

[OMB]

When Ganguly was removed from captaincy and the team by Chappel, Dravid didnt support him. That had miffed dada and he was upset with him.

Then the controversy peaked when we toured Pakistan in 2006. Dravid was skipper and Ganguly was making a comeback. Dravid had decided to open in that test series along with Viru. It was a flat pancake in 1st test in Lahore and ended with a draw where Ganguly didnt even got a chance to bat. Then he was suddenly dropped from 2nd test in Faislabad but was recalled again in 3rd test in Karachi. Looking at the scorecard in 1st two test matches, curators decided to prepare a spicy greenish wicket in Karachi. India lost the toss and needed to bat first. Dravid who was opening all tour, suddenly ask Ganguly to open in that game. Ganguly, who was yet to face a ball in that series was not happy to suddenly face new ball in a fresh green wicket and was caught arguing with Dravid in the middle of the ground. It was obviously a plan by Greg Chappel who wanted Ganguly to fail and was shooting gun from Dravid's shoulder.

It was a very brief controversy though and everything sorted between them as soon as Chappel left. Dada and Dravid are great friends now and both still doing great job for Indian cricket

yes, I remember this. At the time, I was thinking why is Ganguly being such a prima donna.

I have a different opinion. That fight wasn't so much as Ganguly vs Dravid but it was more Greg Chappel vs Ganguly though. Dravid was just caught in the cross-fire and it was Indian media who started projecting Dravid wrongly. Infact it was Dravid who convinced Ganguly not to leave the tour midway when Greg chappel wanted to replace Ganguly from the team.
Till date Dravid and Ganguly remain very good friends and collaborators in their respective roles. Also it wasn't only Dravid who allegedly didn't support Ganguly, other senior players too kept quiet initially. All that spat was very unlike what they had ever seen before so everyone maintained usual silence. Greg was kind of vindictive.

He didn't understand how the system works and Ganguly had trouble taking "Do as you are told" orders. I didn't like it one bit when Greg's letter leaked where he had said Ganguly was mentally unfit. That was a cheap shot and damaged Indian team. Everyone knew that Ganguly was one of the best leaders in cricket and Greg apparently was trying to form the cricket as a fantasy league. Was so much out of touch.

Greg's only good contribution was that he really sealed that debate of foreign coaches vs Indian coaches for Team India.

 

[Varun]

When Ganguly was removed from captaincy and the team by Chappel, Dravid didnt support him. That had miffed dada and he was upset with him.

Then the controversy peaked when we toured Pakistan in 2006. Dravid was skipper and Ganguly was making a comeback. Dravid had decided to open in that test series along with Viru. It was a flat pancake in 1st test in Lahore and ended with a draw where Ganguly didnt even got a chance to bat. Then he was suddenly dropped from 2nd test in Faislabad but was recalled again in 3rd test in Karachi. Looking at the scorecard in 1st two test matches, curators decided to prepare a spicy greenish wicket in Karachi. India lost the toss and needed to bat first. Dravid who was opening all tour, suddenly ask Ganguly to open in that game. Ganguly, who was yet to face a ball in that series was not happy to suddenly face new ball in a fresh green wicket and was caught arguing with Dravid in the middle of the ground. It was obviously a plan by Greg Chappel who wanted Ganguly to fail and was shooting gun from Dravid's shoulder.

It was a very brief controversy though and everything sorted between them as soon as Chappel left. Dada and Dravid are great friends now and both still doing great job for Indian cricket

Nope.

1. India won the toss and elected to field first.

2. Dravid opened in both innings, and Ganguly batted at #5 in both innings.

Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...istan-vs-india-3rd-test-234783/full-scorecard

 

[Last Monetarist]

When Ganguly was removed from captaincy and the team by Chappel, Dravid didnt support him. That had miffed dada and he was upset with him.

Then the controversy peaked when we toured Pakistan in 2006. Dravid was skipper and Ganguly was making a comeback. Dravid had decided to open in that test series along with Viru. It was a flat pancake in 1st test in Lahore and ended with a draw where Ganguly didnt even got a chance to bat. Then he was suddenly dropped from 2nd test in Faislabad but was recalled again in 3rd test in Karachi. Looking at the scorecard in 1st two test matches, curators decided to prepare a spicy greenish wicket in Karachi. India lost the toss and needed to bat first. Dravid who was opening all tour, suddenly ask Ganguly to open in that game. Ganguly, who was yet to face a ball in that series was not happy to suddenly face new ball in a fresh green wicket and was caught arguing with Dravid in the middle of the ground. It was obviously a plan by Greg Chappel who wanted Ganguly to fail and was shooting gun from Dravid's shoulder.

It was a very brief controversy though and everything sorted between them as soon as Chappel left. Dada and Dravid are great friends now and both still doing great job for Indian cricket

I don't remember Ganguly opening in that test match though, so presume he got his way in the end.

 

[Rajdeep]

Nope.

1. India won the toss and elected to field first.

2. Dravid opened in both innings, and Ganguly batted at #5 in both innings.

Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...istan-vs-india-3rd-test-234783/full-scorecard

Yes but Ganguly was asked to open in 3rd test. He had an open spat with Dravid where he outright rejected the offer (to open) which lead to no other choice and Dravid end up opening. The video of Dravid-Ganguly spat in the middle of National stadium Karachi went viral at that time. Not sure if its in youtube but will try to find.

 

[Mamoon]

I think there was an ego battle between Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly in the mid 2000s that didn’t get enough coverage and recognition.

If social media existed back then things would be much different and there will be more controversies.

The arrival of Greg Chappell who clearly did not like Ganguly further exacerbated matters.

Ganguly was clearly disappointed with the way he was sidelined as captain and during the 2002-2007 period, Dravid was very close to overtaking Tendulkar as India’s premier Test batsman.

It was Dravid’s peak and the worst patch of Tendulkar’s career, so there was probably some professional rivalry.

It would also be naive to assume that there was no malicious intent behind Dravid’s decision to declare in Multan in 2004 when Tendulkar was 194 not out.

It was a baffling decision that Tendulkar highlighted in his book as well, citing that it never made any sense and he is right.

Clearly, not everything was rosy between the trio during that period.

 

[Rajdeep]

I think there was an ego battle between Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly in the mid 2000s that didn’t get enough coverage and recognition.

If social media existed back then things would be much different and there will be more controversies.

The arrival of Greg Chappell who clearly did not like Ganguly further exacerbated matters.

Ganguly was clearly disappointed with the way he was sidelined as captain and during the 2002-2007 period, Dravid was very close to overtaking Tendulkar as India’s premier Test batsman.

It was Dravid’s peak and the worst patch of Tendulkar’s career, so there was probably some professional rivalry.

It would also be naive to assume that there was no malicious intent behind Dravid’s decision to declare in Multan in 2004 when Tendulkar was 194 not out.

It was a baffling decision that Tendulkar highlighted in his book as well, citing that it never made any sense and he is right.

Clearly, not everything was rosy between the trio during that period.

Ganguly and Tendulkar aparently had few disagreements related to batting order. With the emergence of Sehwag, India's best opening pair of Tendulkar - Ganguly could no longer open together and someone needed to take a hit. Ganguly being captain demoted Sachin at no.4 in Natwest series 2002 for which he was not happy. Sachin felt his best batting position in ODI team was at top of the order and he cant do justice at 4. Luckily this brief clash ended very soon and Sachin started opening again in 2003 world cup along with Sehwag and Ganguly moved to no 3. Later Chappel foolishly pushed him to no.4 again in 2007 world cup but thats a different story or as they say rest is history

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Ganguly and Tendulkar aparently had few disagreements related to batting order. With the emergence of Sehwag, India's best opening pair of Tendulkar - Ganguly could no longer open together and someone needed to take a hit. Ganguly being captain demoted Sachin at no.4 in Natwest series 2002 for which he was not happy. Sachin felt his best batting position in ODI team was at top of the order and he cant do justice at 4. Luckily this brief clash ended very soon and Sachin started opening again in 2003 world cup along with Sehwag and Ganguly moved to no 3. Later Chappel foolishly pushed him to no.4 again in 2007 world cup but thats a different story or as they say rest is history

Ganguly didnt get enough support from both Sachin and Dravid during tough time.

 

[NishanKonar]

I think there was an ego battle between Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly in the mid 2000s that didn’t get enough coverage and recognition.

If social media existed back then things would be much different and there will be more controversies.

The arrival of Greg Chappell who clearly did not like Ganguly further exacerbated matters.

Ganguly was clearly disappointed with the way he was sidelined as captain and during the 2002-2007 period, Dravid was very close to overtaking Tendulkar as India’s premier Test batsman.

It was Dravid’s peak and the worst patch of Tendulkar’s career, so there was probably some professional rivalry.

It would also be naive to assume that there was no malicious intent behind Dravid’s decision to declare in Multan in 2004 when Tendulkar was 194 not out.

It was a baffling decision that Tendulkar highlighted in his book as well, citing that it never made any sense and he is right.

Clearly, not everything was rosy between the trio during that period.

That Multan declaration total sense if you had watched the game live. Sachin was just crawling so slowly towards his 200 - it was getting exasperating. Dravid was sending messages to Sachin to score quickly but Sachin was batting so slowly

Plus Dravid himself got declared when he was on 91 in the previous test in Sydney and he made no noise about it

But its true Dravid grew in stature in that 2002-05 phase and wanted bigger role for himself than play deputy to Ganguly all the time. In a way he deserved it. But that did lead to tension in the dressing room. Also Dravid never liked the fact that Ganguly made him wicket keeper in ODI team ( although it was in India's interest ). He kinda took it as a sly on his batting abilities in ODI

 

[BaankeJi]

That Multan declaration total sense if you had watched the game live. Sachin was just crawling so slowly towards his 200 - it was getting exasperating. Dravid was sending messages to Sachin to score quickly but Sachin was batting so slowly

Plus Dravid himself got declared when he was on 91 in the previous test in Sydney and he made no noise about it

But its true Dravid grew in stature in that 2002-05 phase and wanted bigger role for himself than play deputy to Ganguly all the time. In a way he deserved it. But that did lead to tension in the dressing room. Also Dravid never liked the fact that Ganguly made him wicket keeper in ODI team ( although it was in India's interest ). He kinda took it as a sly on his batting abilities in ODI

Any reference to bolded part?

 

[Savak]

Dravid should have allowed Teenda 6 runs to score a special double century against Pakistan. Teenda never got the same opportunity again

 

[Hitman]

Dravid should have allowed Teenda 6 runs to score a special double century against Pakistan. Teenda never got the same opportunity again

According to Sachin in his book, Dravid went back on his word and declared an over earlier than what was initially planned.

 

[BreadPakoda]

That Multan declaration total sense if you had watched the game live. Sachin was just crawling so slowly towards his 200 - it was getting exasperating. Dravid was sending messages to Sachin to score quickly but Sachin was batting so slowly

Incorrect. Sachin went from 168 to 194 in 33 deliveries. 26 off 33 is hardly crawling.
16 runs off last 20 deliveries. 80 SR - again how is that crawling?

 

[Hitman]

Incorrect. Sachin went from 168 to 194 in 33 deliveries. 26 off 33 is hardly crawling.
16 runs off last 20 deliveries. 80 SR - again how is that crawling?

Some people like to make statements without checking the facts.

 

[Mamoon]

That Multan declaration total sense if you had watched the game live. Sachin was just crawling so slowly towards his 200 - it was getting exasperating. Dravid was sending messages to Sachin to score quickly but Sachin was batting so slowly

Plus Dravid himself got declared when he was on 91 in the previous test in Sydney and he made no noise about it

But its true Dravid grew in stature in that 2002-05 phase and wanted bigger role for himself than play deputy to Ganguly all the time. In a way he deserved it. But that did lead to tension in the dressing room. Also Dravid never liked the fact that Ganguly made him wicket keeper in ODI team ( although it was in India's interest ). He kinda took it as a sly on his batting abilities in ODI

I watched the match live and there was no justification at all. There was no communication from the dressing room. He was only 6 runs short and if Dravid and Wright had communicated to him that he only had a couple of overs to get to his 200, he would have done it.

When Dravid was 91 not out in Australia, he was hit on the head and was off the field to get treated. Ganguly didn’t know how long Dravid was going to be injured for.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Greg Chappell seems to be every ex-Indian cricketers favourite punching bag whenever they are losing relevance.

In my opinion he actually wasn’t that bad. In ODIs he built a very exciting team with several youngsters which went on a long winning streak.

If I remember correctly youngsters like Irfan Pathan, Raina, Munaf Patel, Uthappa, RP Singh, Dhoni etc all either made their debuts under him or became regulars under him.

Prior to Chappell, India was going through a period of no changes and where you would see the same old faces being recycled every year. Chappell introduced young blood and excitement to the team and also broke the old boys club.

Pathan and Dhoni debuted under the Wright/Ganguly combination. ODI winning streak? I seem to recall that we thrashed SL, England and Pakistan but lost to Windies in Windies, SA in SA, got demolished in CT 2006 ., beaten in the DLF tri series and culminated in a thrashing at the world cup in the Windies.

 

[MP2011]

That Multan declaration total sense if you had watched the game live. Sachin was just crawling so slowly towards his 200 - it was getting exasperating. Dravid was sending messages to Sachin to score quickly but Sachin was batting so slowly

Matlab kuch bhi?

 

[MP2011]

I watched the match live and there was no justification at all. There was no communication from the dressing room. He was only 6 runs short and if Dravid and Wright had communicated to him that he only had a couple of overs to get to his 200, he would have done it.

When Dravid was 91 not out in Australia, he was hit on the head and was off the field to get treated. Ganguly didn’t know how long Dravid was going to be injured for.

This!

Nothing would've happened (to team's cause) had Tendulkar been allowed to score 6 more runs that day! That Dravid went back on his own word, was another poor manifestation of his leadership.

 

[Hitman]

This!

Nothing would've happened (to team's cause) had Tendulkar been allowed to score 6 more runs that day! That Dravid went back on his own word, was another poor manifestation of his leadership.

Sachin clearly mentions in his book that Dravid went back on his word and what was discussed previously, and declared an over before planned.

 

[OMB]

Board Offered New Contract But I Did Not Need That Stress: Greg Chappell


Former Australia captain Greg Chappell went back in time to recall his days as the head coach of the Indian team, the pressure that came with the job and much more while speaking on the Cricket Life Stories podcast.

New Delhi: Former Australia captain Greg Chappell went back in time to recall his days as the head coach of the Indian team, the pressure that came with the job and much more while speaking on the Cricket Life Stories podcast. Chappell said that after he was able to culminate a successful partnership with former India captain Rahul Dravid who replaced Sourav Ganguly as the captain, the Indian board did offer him a new contract but he was not willing to take the stress that came with the job.

“We had a great 12 months, but then the resistance got too much, Ganguly came back into the team. The message from the players was loud and clear ‘We don’t want change.’ Even though the board offered me a new contract, I decided that I did not need that kind of stress,” Chappell said.

Recalling the challenges he faced on the job, Chappell termed the expectations to be ‘ridiculous’ and stressed on the issues in the team about Ganguly being the captain of the side.

“The two years in India were challenging on every front. The expectations were ridiculous. Some of the issues were around Sourav being captain. He didn’t particularly want to work hard. He didn’t want to improve his cricket. He just wanted to be in the team as captain, so that he could control things,” added the former Australian captain.

Chappell, however, made it clear that he got the top job to coach the most fanatical cricket country because of Ganguly who had approached him and went on to stress the fact that he had other approaches but decided to take the opportunity to coach India.

“Ganguly was the one who approached me about coaching India. I had other approaches but I decided that since John Buchanan was coaching Australia I would love to coach the most populous, fanatical cricket country in the world, and that opportunity came about because Sourav, who was the captain, made sure that I did,” added Chappell.

The former Australian captain then went on to speak about the changes he wanted to bring in the Indian team and how he and Dravid stitched together a very successful partnership in the next year or so.

“Dravid was really invested in India becoming the best team in the world. Sadly not everyone in the team had the same feeling. They would rather concentrate on being in the team. There was some resistance from some of the senior players because some of them were coming to the end of their careers. When Sourav got dropped from the team, we had a lot of attention from the players, because they realized if he can go, anyone can go,” Chappell further went on to add.

https://www.cricketcountry.com/news/board-offered-new-contract-but-i-did-not-need-that-stress-greg-chappell-983366

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Rubbish coach. We got humiliated in every single ODI tournament under him - Indian oil Cup, tri-series in Zimbabwe, DLF tri-series, Champions Trophy 2006 and, eventually the World cup. Lost all bilateral series outside Asia too - Windies in windies (4-1), SA in SA(4-1). Under Wright, we actually won the Natwest series, CT 2002 and reached the World cup final 2003 etc.

In tests, we won in Johannesburg, because Ganguly of all people batted with the tail and got us to 249 in the first innings. ) Apart from that, we were beaten by Pakistan and just drew with England in India.

As head coach, Mohsin Khan >>> Chappell