Ex-Indian Coach Exposes How Indian Cricketers Get Favours

The perception that the Indian cricket team receives special favours from governing bodies continues to grow with each passing day and now, another example has emerged from none other than their former coach, Greg Chappell.

The Australian has stirred fresh controversy nearly two decades after his stint with the team, revealing that then–BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya had once offered to overturn Sourav Ganguly’s ban in 2005. Chappell, however, refused to intervene.

At the time, the left-handed batter had been handed a suspension following a code-of-conduct breach during the Zimbabwe tour.

Chappell, who was appointed India’s coach in 2005, said Dalmiya approached him early in his tenure, suggesting a reduced suspension for Ganguly so the former Indian captain could rejoin the national team for the Sri Lanka series.

“Dalmiya offered to have his suspension reduced so that he could go to Sri Lanka at the start of my tenure,” Chappell revealed. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to rort the system — he has to do his time.’”

Greg Chappell’s revelation not only adds another layer to one of Indian cricket’s most turbulent eras — the infamous Chappell-Ganguly fallout that divided the dressing room and led to Ganguly’s temporary ouster — but also reinforces the prevailing belief that the Indian team has historically received preferential treatment.

Just recently, ICC Match Referee Chris Broad revealed that he had been asked to be lenient on the Indian team and now, Chappell’s admission lends further weight to that theory.

While Greg Chappell’s stint with India ended in controversy following the 2007 World Cup exit, his latest statement once again challenges the ICC’s claims of neutrality when it comes to India.

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