The Chappell–Ganguly controversy was caused by a series of events in late 2005 and early 2006 which involved highly publicised infighting in the Indian cricket team between the then newly appointed coach Greg Chappell and captain Sourav Ganguly. The dispute resulted in the removal of Ganguly as captain and his replacement by vice-captain Rahul Dravid in November 2005, with Ganguly being dropped from the ODI team. Ganguly was also dropped from the Test team at the end of January 2006. The dispute stirred up strong emotions in India, ranging from fiery street protests in Ganguly’s home town of Kolkata and his home state of West Bengal, to speeches in the Parliament of India.[1] Eventually Ganguly was recalled to the team in both forms of cricket in late 2006 after his replacements lost form, and was selected as a part of the Indian team for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
Background
Greg Chappell, a former captain of the Australian cricket team, was selected as the new Indian coach, after the incumbent coach John Wright, a former captain of the New Zealand cricket team, did not renew his contract at the end of the 2004/05 international season. India went through an indifferent 2004–05 season, being eliminated from the Champions Trophy in the Group stage, losing the Border Gavaskar Trophy by a margin of 2-1, their first series loss to Australia on home soil since 1969, squandering a 1–0 Test series lead against Pakistan to level the series 1-1 and then losing the last four ODIs to lose the ODI series against the same opponents 4–2. However, John Wright’s tenure had also seen India enter the finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup after a poor start to the tournament, sharing victory in the 2002 Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and achieving famous Test wins in England, Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies. John Wright’s role in historic victories for India brought importance and prestige to the position of coach in Indian cricket.
Zimbabwe tour and email leak
The tour began with a warmup game during which Chappell asked Ganguly to step down from the captaincy and focus on his batting. Chappell said that Ganguly’s slump in batting form would affect the “other areas of his game”, but expressed confidence about Ganguly regaining his form on the tour.
Before the first Test, Chappell stated that they should pick the best XI for the match, and that, if left to him, he would pick both Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif ahead of Ganguly. Irked by this, Ganguly decided to pack his bags and leave the tour. The team director Amitabh Chowdhary, along with Chappell and Dravid, insisted that he continue to play, as the captain leaving the team in the middle of the tour would be disastrous. After rumours emerged that Ganguly had allegedly faked an injury during the match, he made defiant comments to the media, in which he accused members of team management of trying to pressure him to resign as captain, although he would not name individuals.He stated that the call for him to step down before the Test helped him find the “extra determination” for this innings.
A few days later, reports emerged that Chappell threatened to resign. However, Chappell dismissed these reports by saying, “Neither have I threatened to resign nor do I intend to resign”. He then read out a statement which said that the private discussion with Ganguly was “aimed at motivating Sourav for the Bulawayo Test match”. He also added that he and Ganguly share a “strong mutual respect going back a long time”. Tendulkar commented on the issue saying that the dressing room discussion should have remained private.
Aftermath
Ganguly emerged with prolific figures in both Test and ODI cricket in the year 2007. He scored 1106 Test runs at an average of 61.44 (with three centuries and four fifties) in 2007 to become the second highest run-scorer in Test matches of that year after Jacques Kallis. He was also the fifth highest run-scorer in 2007 in ODIs, where he scored 1240 runs at an average of 44.28.He formally retired in 2008. In 2008, veteran South African batsman Gary Kirsten was appointed head coach of the national team after a less-publicised selection process. Kirsten brought in Paddy Upton as a mental coach, and Prasad and Singh were retained in their specialist roles.
In November 2007, Chappell alleged that he was a victim of a “racist attack” at the Bhubaneshwar Airport in January 2007 when a fan “whacked him” behind his ear, and accused the BCCI of covering up the issue. He also went on to say, “As I said to the BCCI in a letter, had it been one of the players who was attacked there would have been an outcry, but because it was me no-one seemed to care. The reply came back talking about my racist comments.” and added “There was a cover-up. Everyone went into cover-up mode. It was quite obvious it was a serious assault. It wasn’t just a push in the back as the media was led to believe. The whole thing was played down. The only phone call I got from the BCCI asked me whether it really happened.” In response, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told Cricinfo, “No way can it be called racist. We treated the issue just like we would have treated [it with] any other Indian player. I remember calling him and finding out the issue. We also enhanced security and provided adequate protection. The local police also provided us with support.” Chappell later downplayed the incident saying his comments came at “an emotional time”
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