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Over the years, many former cricketers have been critical of ex-India's head coach Greg Chappell. Rightly so as Greg Chappell's tenure as India's head coach is one of the most controversial periods in the team's history. His time was marked by a highly publicized conflict with then-captain Sourav Ganguly, which ultimately led to Ganguly's ousting and drew significant criticism toward Chappell. Despite some strong performances by the team, his coaching stint is most remembered for the disastrous 2007 ODI World Cup campaign, where India was shockingly eliminated in the group stage after a loss to Bangladesh.
Irfan Pathan on Greg Chappell's contentious stint as India's head coach
While many former players have spoken out against Chappell, some have also come to his defense, acknowledging his coaching skills and sympathising with his situation. Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan is one of them. Pathan's own career flourished during this time, as he became a regular player and was frequently promoted up the batting order. He believes that Chappell's strict approach didn't align with the existing Indian cricketing culture. Pathan explained that while Chappell treated all players with equal respect, his aggressive way of telling players they would be dropped if they didn't perform caused insecurity within the team.
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In a conversation with The Lallantop, Pathan explained why Chappell's rigid coaching style and stern personality were a poor fit for the Indian cricketing culture.
“He treated seniors and juniors with the same respect, but he was far more aggressive than what we were used to. He would openly tell anyone that if they didn’t perform, they would be dropped. I felt this approach was too harsh, so I spoke to him privately,” Irfan said.
“I told him that we already know the consequences of not performing—he didn’t need to repeat it all the time. It was only creating insecurity within the team. At first, he got upset and used some strong words, but eventually, he realised I was right. “In my view, if he had managed that one key thing (align with India’s cultural practices), he might have become one of the best coaches,” he further stated.
According to Pathan, a crucial part of a foreign coach's job is understanding and adapting to the local culture.
“If I go to Bangladesh or Sri Lanka or England as a coach, and if I don't accept their culture, would their players accept me? Greg Chappell's intention was right, but he wanted to bring an Australian culture. He wanted us to play hard cricket and didn't care what background anyone came from. But you can certainly do it in a much better way," Irfan added.
Chappell’s coaching tenure with the Indian cricket team concluded following the team's elimination from the group stage of the 2007 ODI World Cup.
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