Did Greg Chappell indirectly call Sachin Tendulkar 'Selfish'? Indians explode at new claim

The tenure of the former Australian captain Greg Chappell as the head coach of the Indian team will always remain infamous in Indian cricket history. It was during Greg Chappell’s tenure as a head coach that the Indian team was knocked out during the group stage of the 2007 World Cup which had caused massive outrage among Indian fans. Recently, the former Australian captain has stirred up the discussion among fans after recalling his time as the head coach of India during a podcast.

Greg Chappell recalls his tenure as the Indian head coach

Speaking on the Cricket Life Stories podcast, Chappell recalled that his two years in India as the head coach were challenging on every front and the expectations that surrounded him were ridiculous. He talked about the problems revolving around Sourav Ganguly being the captain of the Indian team during the Ganguly vs Chappell phase. Although he did accept that it was because of Ganguly that he became the head coach.

Did Chappell take an indirect dig at Sachin Tendulkar?

Speaking on Rahul Dravid, Chappell praised him by saying that he was invested in making India the best team in the world. However, Chappell feels that not everyone in the team had the same motive and some of the players were rather concentrating on being a part of the team. Chappell recalled the resistance from some of the senior players by saying that some of them were more concerned about their careers coming to an end and clinging on to their places in the side, making it an indirect dig at the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. Interestingly, over the years across multiple reports, Chappell has been full of praise for Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble's work ethic, skill and vision during his tenure.

Chappell also claimed that after Sourav Ganguly was dropped as a player and captain both, he had a lot of attention from players as they realized that if Ganguly could be dropped, they could also be dropped. He further added that the team had a great 12 months but then the resistance kept increasing and became too much for him. He claimed that the message of not wanting any change from some of the senior players was loud and clear.

End of the Ganguly vs Chappell phase in the Indian team

Chappel was offered a new contract at the end of his tenure, however, he decided that he wasn’t going to face that kind of stress from the resistance. The Ganguly vs Chappell phase ended after Sourav Ganguly was brought back into the team. The outrage against Greg Chappell as the head coach reached its peak when India lost to Bangladesh in the group stages of the 2007 World Cup. India were subsequently knocked out of the tournament after losing to Sri Lanka.

Image Source: AP