5 of the biggest feuds in Indian sporting history

2) Greg Chappell vs Sourav Ganguly

In happier times: Ganguly had been the one to suggest Chappell’s appointment

The appointment of former Australian captain Greg Chappell was one of the most controversial periods in Indian cricket. Though Chappell was hired following then captain Ganguly’s advice, it would soon come back to bite him. After a highly publicized, contentious spat between the two egoistic sportsmen, Ganguly was sacked as captain and subsequently dropped from the ODI team.

The fight between them escalated during India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2007 when Chappell stated that if left to him, he would pick both Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif ahead of Ganguly for the 1^st Test. An irked Ganguly went on to score a hundred against one of the worst bowling sides in the world and later accused the team management of trying to get him to resign as captain though he did not name individuals.

Few days later, Chappell read out a statement which said that the private discussion with Ganguly was "aimed at motivating Sourav for the Bulawayo Test match" and not intended to belittle him.

It triggered massive protests in Bengal and Ganguly was later recalled to the team following public outcry coupled with the loss in form of his replacements. But the feud between the two ran deep and flared up years after the sacking of Chappell as Indian coach with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and even VVS Laxman siding with Ganguly in the matter.