Harbhajan Singh: Greg Chappell destroyed Indian cricket by dividing dressing room
Harbhajan Singh has claimed that some Indian cricketers during the mid-noughties would pass on information to then coach Greg Chappell about other players, which created huge riffs in the dressing room. The discarded Indian off-spinner backed Sachin Tendulkar’s claims that Chappell was a ‘ringmaster’ and said the Australian destroyed Indian cricket for sometime.
Harbhajan claims other Indian players supplied misinformation
"Chappell destroyed Indian cricket to such an extent that it required at least 3 years to again get back on track. The worst part was some players in that team, who sucked upto the coach and would supply selective misinformation creating bigger rifts,” Harbhajan said.
"When the right time comes, the names will be revealed. Some people thought that just blindly following Chappell would do them world of good without realising that Indian cricket was going nowhere."
Harbhajan also claims that the e-mail that Chappell had written to the BCCI, which led to Sourav Ganguly’s ouster from the team, was noted down when the then Indian captain was actually batting in an international match.
"Sourav was batting out there in the middle and this man was typing a critical e-mail against Sourav, sitting right there in that dressing room. He had no interest in the proceedings of the match. How did I get to know, I was sitting next to him and had a suspicion. Once he went to the washroom, I peeped into his laptop and the mail was lying open. I was stunned to see the contents," the 34-year-old said.
The former Mumbai Indians captain also added that cricketers were insecure and feared the consequences if they expressed their opinions.
"He was supposed to take India to the next level in international cricket. But during that phase, there was one point of time, we were playing like U-14s. It was a time, when during tours, we were scared of each other. We couldn't confide our feelings, anguish or despair because we could not simply trust each other. The atmosphere was so claustrophobic," he said.
Chappell wanted to drop senior players, says Harbhajan
Harbhajan also says that Ganguly wasn’t Chappell’s only target and claims the former Australian captain wanted to drop a number of other senior players as well. He also recalls a story from India’s historical Test victory in 2006, when he was one of the stars in the first innings but was made to feel left out.
"In the first innings, West Indies were out for 103 and I took 5 for 13. When we came back to the dressing room, there wasn't even a pat on the back or 'well bowled'. Instead he congratulated another bowler I don't wish to name. It was insulting. He always had a target of dropping me but unlike others, he couldn't do that with me. His anger? Because I stood by Sourav, when he (Chappell) was taking it on him,” added the turbanator.
"Sourav built an Indian team between 2001 and 2005 while Chappell destroyed it entirely."