The Chappell Controversy: Cricket has uncanny support in India; it’s a game that is often touted as a religion in itself by Indians. Often you can find young folks doing shadow batting or bowling during normal walks. It’s hilarious, isn’t it? But this is the love Indians shower on cricket and cricketers. However, this intense following also translates into a serious scrutiny of the players involved, including coaches and support staffs.
Further, there is no denying the fact that at one point in time, the Aussies were a literally invincible team. This created a strong buzz in support of Greg Chappell’s appointment as the head coach of the Indian side in 2005.
However, what followed was a series of unfortunate events that badly impacted Indian cricket for a long time to come.
Where did the Chappell Controversy begin?
Soon after his appointment, Greg Chappell started sidelining Dada from the squad. Just four months into his appointment, Sourav Ganguly was sacked as captain and dropped from the team.
This infamous Chappell-Ganguly feud started when Greg was accused of trying to undermine the authority of Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. The captain and coach started having regular spats and had a fallout.
This caused tremors in Indian cricket, and the BCCI was forced to intervene. The apex board appointed a three-member committee to look into the matter, which culminated in Chappell’s disgraceful ouster from the Indian side.
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However, it caused irreparable damage to Indian cricket, and it still haunts the BCCI and Indian cricket. Its fallout was immense, as it left a moral scare on the Indian players, which affected their game.
In hindsight, many claim that it was a mistake to appoint Chappell as the head coach. But without holding any grudges, Ganguly has been categorically clear that it is the way of life, and he doesn’t consider it a mistake. However, The Chappell Controversy could have been avoided or dialed down if BCCI had taken a more careful approach to the selection process.
The Chappell Controversy: Impact on the team and Ganguly’s career
The wrecked Australian coach Chappell created Controversy and an atmosphere of negativity that badly impacted the team’s performance. Despite the fact that the Indian squad had legends of the game, India had to suffer a disastrous exit from the 50-over World Cup in 2007. This forced the BCCI to go tough against the Aussie, who was destroying Indian cricket as per his whims and fancies. Resultantly, Greg resigned from his post, and this ushered in a new positive change for the team and helped them win the inaugural T20 World Cup under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
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Although Ganguly staged a terrific comeback to return to the India team in late 2006, Chappell had metaphorically already taken India behind by at least 5 years.
For those who want to enjoy every twist and turn of this saga, ESPN has covered it under the headline, “The Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly spat.”
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