5 former India cricketers who have lashed out at Greg Chappell ft. Robin Uthappa

It is amply clear that very few former Indian cricketers have fond memories of ex-coach Greg Chappell. The former Australia batter, appointed India's coach in 2005, took over from the successful John Wright but created a toxic dressing room that resulted in a fragmented side with insecure personalities.

Chappell's high-handed treatment of senior players did not go down well and led to many rifts inside the team. Some players also felt that the Australian did not have the best of Indian cricket in mind when he joined the staff and that he did more harm than good. Under him, India were knocked out of the 2007 ODI World Cup from the group stage itself.

In this listicle, we take a look at five former India cricketers who have not spoken too kindly about Chappell:

#5 Harbhajan Singh

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh was quite critical of the way Chappell managed the dressing room. Harbhajan, who was one of the best off-spinners in the world during his prime, ended with 417 Test wickets.

Speaking on former India opener Aakash Chopra's YouTube show AakashVani, Harbhajan felt that the wrong people were at the helm during the 2007 ODI World Cup and that Chappell felt keen on dividing and leading the entire team.

“When Greg Chappell came as the coach of our side, he disrupted the entire team. I don’t know what motive he came with. No one knows how to disrupt a solid team better than him. Only god knows what was his motive. The entire press was under him. He would make them write what he wanted, he used to do whatever he wanted,” Harbhajan said on Aakash Chopra's YouTube channel.

“The 2007 50-over World Cup has to be the lowest point of my cricketing career. I thought we were going through such a difficult time and I also thought that maybe it is not the right time to play for India. I felt wrong people were at the helm of Indian cricket. I felt these people had come to ruin Indian cricket. Who is Greg Chappell? Why is he doing such things? He was trying to divide and lead, he used to do such things. I don’t know what his motive was,” he added.

#4 Robin Uthappa

Former India and Karnataka cricketer Robin Uthappa is the latest to speak about Greg Chappell's approach during his tenure as the India coach. Uthappa felt that the Australian was running an agenda within the team.

Uthappa also noted that Chappell aimed to establish a dressing room culture reflecting the practices of cricket Down Under.

"Greg Chappell was running an agenda. He was coaching with an Aussie mindset that 'This is how we do things in Australia'. I don’t think he ever respected Indian culture. He came in and tried to bring the Australian culture. The environment of that team was very bad," said Uthappa on the Lallantop YouTube channel.

"Cricket the most interesting thing is that 15-20 people from different states, culture and households are playing for one aim that is to play for India. There is a magic in that. When you get that right, playing cricket is something else," he added.

"We enjoyed each other’s success in 2007 T20 World Cup. We played like a unit. Even if I got out, I want you (next batter) to score runs. Go and win the match for us. It doesn’t matter, who is scoring runs or taking wickets," he elaborated.

#3 VVS Laxman

Coach VVS Laxman of India in action during an India training session ahead of the New Zealand and India T20 International series, at Basin Reserve on November 16, 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The iconic VVS Laxman, who is currently the head of the National Cricket Academy, was one of the best batters this country has ever produced. Laxman was known for his wristy, artistic and elegant batting.

After Tendulkar's autobiography came out, Laxman spoke to NDTV and mentioned that under Chappell, it was the worst dressing room he had ever been part of. Laxman also felt that Chappell was trying to create a rift in the team.

"In 2006, it was the worst dressing-room I was part of. I have played under various coaches and captains for 16 years but that year was the worst atmosphere in a dressing-room," Laxman said to NDTV.

"More than anything else, it was very evident that there was an attempt to create a rift. A cricket team is like a family and there is no point in creating a divide between seniors and juniors. It was very unfortunate. The seniors felt very insecure. We never understood why Chappell thought that way when the seniors were playing well," he added.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar of India waits to bat as coach Greg Chappell looks on during the Indian nets session at the Wankhede Stadium on March 17, 2006 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who is usually known for his quiet demeanour, brought out severe criticisms of Chappell after the launch of his autobiography 'Playing It My Way.'

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Tendulkar mentioned that Chappell's tenure was the worst during his career. He also felt that Chappell's high-handed manner disappointed the players and harmed Indian cricket.

"Greg's tenure as coach was the worst of my career. There is no doubt we failed as a collective in 2007, but his high-handed manner added to our disappointment and, in the immediate aftermath of defeat, had a harmful impact on Indian cricket. I wish I could understand what he was trying to do," Tendulkar said to Hindustan Times.

Tendulkar also mentioned an incident in which he bumped into Ian Chappell, Greg's older brother in South Africa, and spoke to him about how unpopular the latter had been in India and that he would not want to work with him again.

"I told Ian bluntly that Greg had not been popular and I would not want to share a dressing room with him again. Ian attempted to argue that Greg had always had a problem trying to understand failure... I said that that was not my concern and all that mattered to me was that he had failed to take Indian cricket forward. Ian was most surprised to hear all this. In fact, Nitin Patel told me soon after that I was the last person he had expected to lash out like this," he added.

#1 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly

The most publicised of all spats involved Chappell and former India captain Sourav Ganguly. The latter, who heralded the golden era of Indian cricket that reached its fruition under MS Dhoni, did not enjoy the best of relationships with Chappell.

Speaking to India Today, Ganguly mentioned that he was not quite sure what Chappell wanted during his term as coach. Ganguly also felt that he did not know what the Australian's real intentions were and if he wanted to take Indian cricket forward.

"The reason why I was asked to leave, because I was asked to drop several of the senior players including Tendulkar, Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, and they needed to be dropped when Greg Chappell came in. I refused to do so. I said 'No, you cannot do that straight away,'" Ganguly said to IndiaToday.

"I don't think that this boils down to man managing people. What I get about these statements is that it is about control. I do not know where his mind was. Did he come to coach India? Did he come to take our cricket forward or do all these unnecessary things. I feel really sad to play cricket for India while all this nonsense was going on at the back," he added.