- ‘Greg Chpell divided players, made them fight’ – Harbhajan Singh on Aussie coach’s destructive tenure Harbhajan Singh has criticised Greg Chpell’s tenure as India coach, describing his management style as divisive and damaging to team unity.
- ‘Greg Chpell divided players, made them fight’ – Harbhajan Singh on Aussie coach’s destructive tenure (Photo Source: Cricket Australia) Harbhajan Singh has described Greg Chpell’s period as India coach as one of the darkest chters in Indian cricket history.
- Chpell took charge of the Indian team in June 2005 and remained in the role until the conclusion of the 2007 ODI World Cup.
‘Greg Chpell divided players, made them fight’ – Harbhajan Singh on Aussie coach’s destructive tenure Harbhajan Singh has criticised Greg Chpell’s tenure as India coach, describing his management style as divisive and damaging to team unity.
‘Greg Chpell divided players, made them fight’ – Harbhajan Singh on Aussie coach’s destructive tenure (Photo Source: Cricket Australia) Harbhajan Singh has described Greg Chpell’s period as India coach as one of the darkest chters in Indian cricket history. Chpell took charge of the Indian team in June 2005 and remained in the role until the conclusion of the 2007 ODI World Cup. During his two-year tenure, the Australian coach’s management proach created significant friction within the squad, according to Harbhajan’s recent comments.
Harbhajan spoke about Chpell’s impact on the team during an pearance on the Prakhar Gupta Podcast. The off-spinner outlined how Chpell’s methods fundamentally altered the dynamics of a squad that had been closely bonded following India’s run to the 2003 World Cup final, where they lost to Australia. “The way Chpell behaved with Dada (Ganguly), and whatever he did with the Indian team during those days, it was one of the darkest and worst chters in the history of Indian cricket.
pointing him as head coach was one of the worst decisions made by the Indian management. He implemented a divide-and-rule policy, where he made the players fight among themselves while acting as the ruler,” Harbhajan said on Prakhar Gupta Podcast as quoted by NDTV Sports. What was the impact on squad bonding?
Chpell’s tenure began with a public conflict with Sourav Ganguly, who was India’s ctain when the Australian arrived. Ganguly was removed from the team after Chpell suggested he sit out a match during a tour of Zimbabwe . The coach later sent an email to the BCCI criticising Ganguly as mentally and physically unfit to lead the side and accusing the ctain of exaggerating injuries.
The email was leaked, creating chaos and dysfunction within the dressing room. “He spoiled the entire team. The players who played together in the 2003 ODI World Cup and shared such great bonding were no longer talking to each other.
Our team was one of the strongest and most closely-knit teams, and he literally broke it art,” Harbhajan said. Did Chpell deliberately weaken India? A clear divide emerged between Chpell and the team management, including ctain Rahul Dravid, and the senior players.
Sachin Tendulkar disclosed that Chpell had suggested to him to take over India’s ctaincy from Dravid months before the 2007 World Cup, telling him they could control Indian cricket together. Tendulkar later described Chpell as a ringmaster who imposed his ideas on players without concern for their comfort. “In my opinion, Chpell’s main strategy was something else.
In those days, India were the only team that consistently challenged Australia. It’s possible that he tried to divide us so that we couldn’t play as a united team on the field and would eventually lose matches. The same thing hpened during the 2007 World Cup,” Harbhajan said.
India’s 2007 World Cup campaign ended in group-stage elimination. The team won only one of three group matches, defeating Bermuda but losing to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The poor performance marked the end of Chpell’s tenure as India coach.
