Xtra Time Web Desk: Former India coach Greg Chappell has once again created headlines by labeling former India captain Sourav Ganguly as someone who was not keen to work hard during his tenure. It was the Ganguly who played the main role in his appointment as Team India head coach in 2005.
“He (Sourav Ganguly) didn’t particularly want to work hard. He didn’t want to improve his cricket. He just wanted to be in the team as captain, so that he could control things,” Greg Chappell said on the Cricket Life Stories podcast.
Chappell’s equation with Ganguly soured to such an extent that he lost his position as captain and place in the national squad. Rahul Dravid ended up taking the leadership role for India.
“Dravid was really invested in India becoming the best team in the world. Sadly not everyone in the team had the same feeling. They would rather concentrate on being in the team. There was some resistance from some of the senior players, because some of them were coming to the end of their careers. When Sourav got dropped from the team, we had a lot of attention from the players, because they realized if he can go, anyone can go,” he added.
Greg Chappell said that the friction between coach and players started to grow and he decided not to renew his contract after India bowed out of the 2007 World Cup failing to qualify in the semifinals.
“We had a great 12 months, but then the resistance got too much, Ganguly came back into the team. The message from the players was loud and clear ‘We don’t want change.’ Even though the board offered me a new contract, I decided that I did not need that kind of stress,” signed off Chappell.