In a shocking claim by Sachin Tendulkar, he said Greg Chappel wanted to replace Dravid with Sachin as ODI captain.
In what is becoming the latest cricket controversy, Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has claimed, in his new book, that Greg Chappel wanted to replace Dravid with him as the ODI captain just months before the World Cup 2007. His autobiography ‘Playing it My Way’ is due to be released on Thursday and in that he has claimed that Greg Chappel came over to his house a few months before the World Cup to convince him to take over the captaincy reins from Dravid.
However, Greg Chappel has reacted to these claims and refuted them outright. In a statement, Chappel said, “Whilst I don’t propose to get into a war of words, I can state quite clearly that during my time as Indian coach I never contemplated Sachin replacing Rahul Dravid as captain.”
When asked about these claims, Rahul Dravid chose not to comment. Tendulkar, who is like a god in the country, has got the backing of three senior Indian players – Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh.
Pacer Zaheer Khan said that Greg Chappel had an agenda against senior players and claimed none of the players liked the coach’s dictatorial style of coaching. India went on with Dravid as captain for the World Cup 2007 in West Indies and made a shocking group stage exit, which included a loss to minnow Bangladesh.
Many claim Chappel’s 2-year period with Indian cricket was easily its darkest and toughest period.
