Former India coach Greg Chappell lavishes praise on Irfan Pathan

Former India head coach and controversial figure Greg Chappell has praised Irfan Pathan on his career after the former Indian all-rounder announced his retirement from all forms of cricket recently. Chappell, whose reign as India coach from 2005 to 2007 was marred by controversies, played an instrumental part in Pathan's career early on and encouraged the left-arm pacer to also contribute with the bat and become a genuine all-rounder.

Thank you all for making this journey most memorable.Wanted to Thank all the coaches & team mates.After my family,my fans have been my biggest strength! Thank u for not leaving me in my tough times.. #IrfanPathanRetires pic.twitter.com/axV3QvdO3p

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 4, 2020

The 71-year-old former Australian captain recently retired from cricket completely after serving in Australia's National Selection Panel (NSP) and as a talent manager for the Australia team. Speaking to the Times of India from Brisbane, Chappell reminded everyone about the selfless cricketer in Pathan, who was willing to dawn any role as instructed by the team management. Chappell said:

"Irfan was happy to play whatever role the team required. He was both courageous and selfless... Irfan proved that he was a very capable all-rounder.

" Apart from what he did in limited-overs cricket, he very nearly scored a Test century (93 vs Sri Lanka at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi). His swing bowling was very good, with the highlight for me being his hat trick in the first over of a Test match against Pakistan in Karachi."

Apart from his off-field disagreements with former Indian captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, Chappell was also blamed for the downfall of Pathan as a swing bowler during his prime days.

However, Pathan made it public that blaming Chappell was just a cover-up and that in reality, the Australian always wanted to bring out the best from him as an all-rounder.

Pathan played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is for India and took 301 international wickets along-with his 2821 runs at the highest level.

Greg Chappell after India's loss in the 2007 WC in West Indies