Why do senior Indian players hate Greg Chappell?

It is an open secret that Sachin didn't enjoy Chappell's confidence

So, Sourav Ganguly calls Greg Chappell ‘Mad’ and ‘Stupid’. Virender Sehwag calls him the ‘worst coach India ever had’. Harbhajan Singh had openly remarked that Greg Chappell had ‘spread a sense of insecurity in the Indian team’. Zaheer Khan termed the Chappell era as the ‘worst phase’ of his cricket career. It is an open secret that master blaster Sachin never enjoyed Chappell’s confidence and the contriversial coach wanted Sachin to retire. So what is it with the South Australian that makes him the most hated among the Indian senior players?

Reacting to reports that former India coach Greg would help the Australian team to ‘demystify’ Sachin Tendulkar and other Indian greats, Sourav Ganguly dubbed this as a good news for India as Greg’s association with the Australian team will take their team down. Ganguly pointed out how Chappell’s methods weren’t appreciated in the Australian cricket system every time he was involved with the team. Ganguly even went on to call Chappell mad.

So is Chappell really mad whose methods makes the players insecure? Especially, the senior players. Statistically, most senior players lost their form when Chappell coached the Indian team. Most prominent case was that of Sourav Ganguly which came with a lot of controversy as the by-product. Sachin and Sehwag also lost their form and their average dropped significantly during the Chappell reign. And the disastrous first round exit from the 2007 world cup too blots Chappell’s report card. Here are a few points that possibly can highlight why Indian experienced players weren’t comfortable with ‘Guru Greg’.

Greg Chappell loved to be the ONLY boss

It is well known that Greg always loves to hog the limelight. That partly describes why every time India visits down under, he eagerly joins team Australia to help them to counter the Sachin effect. Those who have worked closely with the man describe him as autocratic and authoritative. When given a responsibility, he prefers to work with full power and authority. In short, he loves to be the only boss in the team. He expects everyone to listen him and work as per his plans. In his opinion, a coach holds all the power in a team and not the captain.

Ganguly and Chappell: Two swords in one scabbard

This ‘supremacy of the coach‘ model, however, is a recipe of failure. Take the example of other coaches of the Indian team, under whom the team achieved stupendous success. The successful coaches in Indian cricket, namely John Wright and Gary Kirsten, never tried to assume the public eye. On the other hand, they always remained behind their captains and worked more in the backroom. During their time, captain became the face of the team and coaches avoided the spotlight. This model is not only successful in India but it works internationally. At the peak of success, who was the face of Australian team? Steve Waugh, the captain, right? It was the iconic Hansie Cronje who represented the South African team while no one knew Bob Woolmer who mainly remained behind the screens.

Chappell never followed this model and tried to be a hard task master. In India, where senior cricketers are akin to demigods, this was never going to work. Instead, this style infuriated the experienced Indian players.

Greg Chappell and his love for media

Though I don’t have specific data, but perhaps Chappell was the Indian coach who addressed the most number of press conferences during his contract period. Chappell used the media as a tool to consolidate his power in the Indian cricket. Many doubt that Chappell himself had leaked the content of his personal email to BCCI on Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy. Greg discussed too much about Indian players’ flaws and weaknesses in the open media. It hit the morale of the players.

Greg Chappell tried tinker with the natural game of the players

“The coaches must not tinker with a player’s natural style of playing”, says former India batsman and cricket commentator Sanjay Manjrekar. But Chappell did exactly the opposite. He interfered too much in a player’s decision on how to play. Irfan Pathan’s decline is a case in point. A brilliant and promising pacer Irfan Pathan lost his bowling form thanks to Greg’s strategy to use Pathan as an all rounder. With too much focus on batting, Pathan, along with Greg, forgot that primarily he was a bowler. Chappell tried to use the same tactics with the seniors which exasperated the senior players. A Sachin Tendulkar or a VVS Laxman definitely does not need a coach to help with the techniques. On the contrary, a coach needs to strategise how to use the experienced players in the matches. Chappell’s invasion into senior players’ natural game is perhaps one of the reason why they hate him.

Greg Chappell believed in ‘Divide and Rule’

Chappell mentions in his autobiography ‘Fierce Focus’ that Indian cricket team was sharply divided: the seniors and the juniors and the juniors feared the seniors. He also describes how he used Dhoni as his ‘Go To’ man to collect information of both the group. Being a very old cricket fan, I don’t remember if Indian dressing room was ever so disunited. Yes, juniors respect seniors in the team as that is part of the Indian culture but that never caused any animosity between the newcomers and the old lords of the team. Stories of seniors helping the juniors with their techniques, game planning even English speaking are well known. So why did such a sharp division happened under Chappell? Did Chappell used the golden trick of ‘divide and rule’? And even if he wasn’t behind it, how did he try to fix the issue? By finding a ‘go to’ man to source secret info about other players!

Greg Chappell was a poor communicator

Though Chappell maintained a fine relationship with the media, his communication with team members was negligible. He would talk only a few members of his choice and they were supposed to talk to the others in the team. He never gave the players the space in the team. You can imagine how badly that would have affected the players’ confidence.

On all these fronts, John Wright and Gary Kirsten were much better. They worked with the seniors like their friends and coworkers, not as a boss. Not difficult to understand why the two command respect of the senior players while Chappell remains the most hated.