Top 5 Controversies in Indian Cricket

2) Chappell Ganguly controversy

Greg Chappell had succeeded Kiwi John Wright as coach of the Indian team in 2005, with backing from then captain Sourav Ganguly. With Ganguly serving a 4 match suspension for slow over rates, Dravid led India in a tri nation tournament in Sri Lanka.

Having served his suspension, Ganguly led India on a tour of Zimbabwe in 2005-06, having not scored a test century in almost 2 years. Matters came to a head when Chappell suggested that Ganguly be dropped from the test team on the basis of his poor form and to accommodate younger players.

An irked Ganguly then scored a painstakingly slow century against a Zimbabwean attack considered one of the worst ever in international cricket. Following this, a defiant Ganguly revealed that he had been asked to step down by certain ‘members of team management’.

Later an email by Chappell to the BCCI criticising Ganguly, was leaked to the media. This led to huge furore while off spinner Harbhajan Singh publicly criticized Chappell and backed Ganguly.

In October 2005, Ganguly was dropped from the Indian ODI team. This led to the Indian team being barracked by a pro-Ganguly crowd at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, during an ODI against South Africa, while Chappell was caught on camera showing the middle finger to the crowd, while boarding the team bus.

After being dropped from the test team, Ganguly returned to domestic cricket to gain form. This resulted in his comeback to the Indian team for the South Africa tour in 2006. Ganguly was the top scorer for India in the series and his subsequent good form resulted in his ODI comeback.

Chappell resigned from his position after India’s dismal showing in the 2007 ICC World Cup.

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Sitam Chaki