NEW DELHI – The past actions of the Indian cricket team, particularly off the field, are suddenly under intense scrutiny. Following explosive revelations from former ICC Match Referee Chris Broad, now former India Head Coach Greg Chappell has added fuel to the fire, detailing the board’s attempt to circumvent disciplinary action against then-captain Sourav Ganguly.
It’s well-known that Chappell’s tenure (2005–2007) was marked by deep friction with the Indian team. His uncompromising adherence to rules led to Ganguly being suspended for six matches in 2005, preventing him from joining the tour of Sri Lanka.
In a recent interview with the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell disclosed that Jagmohan Dalmiya, the then President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), had personally requested him to intervene and lift the ban.
Chappell recounted: “Dalmiya asked me early in my coaching tenure with India to get his [Ganguly’s] ban reduced so he could go on the Sri Lanka tour. I said, ‘No, I can’t go outside the system. He has to take the consequences.’ Dalmiya accepted that.”
he Slow Over Rate Controversy
Chappell’s revelation follows a recent interview given by veteran ICC Match Referee Chris Broad to the British newspaper The Telegraph, shedding light on alleged leniency shown to the Indian team on slow over rates.
Broad was the match referee who fined Ganguly in the third ODI against Pakistan in April 2005. Ganguly’s repeated offenses eventually led to the six-match suspension.
Broad admitted to facing pressure to be lenient:
Broad confessed: “India was three or four overs behind at the end of the match. They should have been fined for a slow over rate. I was called and asked to be sympathetic, as it was India. I thought, ‘Okay.’ We somehow managed to find some extra time to bring the over rate below the fine limit.”
Broad hinted that a similar incident occurred in the very next match: “The same thing happened in the following match. Sourav Ganguly was not adhering to the instructions to finish the game quickly. I called and asked what I should do. I was then told, ‘Just fine Ganguly.’”
Chappell’s Controversial Tenure
Chappell’s time as coach was notoriously turbulent. Senior players, including Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, and Virender Sehwag, were vocal critics of his coaching methods. The relationship severely deteriorated after India was eliminated in the group stage of the 2007 ODI World Cup, with Chappell and Ganguly’s feud becoming the most publicized conflict in modern Indian cricket history.
