Ian too had doubts over Greg’s choice: Ganguly

NEW DELHI: Even brother Ian Chappell was not very positive about Greg Chappell taking over as India coach in 2005. Sunil Gavaskar too had reservations but Sourav Ganguly says he ignored those warnings and chose to follow his instinct.

In fact, Ganguly was in awe of the former Australia skipper prior to his appointment and even embarked on a ‘secret trip’ to Australia in 2003 before the team was to tour that country on an “exhaustive recce” of the grounds.

He got in touch with Chappell as he thought he “would be the best person” to help him in his mission. “In our previous meetings, he had impressed me with his cricketing knowledge,” Ganguly writes in his autobiography “A Century is Not Enough”.

But little did Ganguly know then that this association was going to be one of the most controversial. On Greg’s appointment, the former India skipper says when there was discussion in 2004 on who could succeed John Wright as coach, Chappell’s name flashed in his mind first.

“I thought Greg Chappell would be the best person to take us to the No 1 slot from the challenger’s position. I had conveyed my personal choice to Mr (Jagmohan) Dalmiya when they were looking for a new Indian coach,” the book, co-authored by Gautam Bhattacharya, says.

WARNINGS IGNORED

“A few people advised me against this move. Sunil Gavaskar was one of them. ‘Sourav, think about it. With him around you might have problems in running the team. His past coaching record is not spectacular’, he told me,” writes Ganguly.

He says Dalmiya also called one morning and asked him to come to his house for discussion.

“He shared in confidence that even brother Ian thought Greg might not be the right choice for India. Well, I decided to ignore all these warnings and follow my instincts,” Ganguly writes.

“The rest as they say is history. But then that’s life. Some scripts go your way, like my tour of Australia, and some don’t, like the Greg chapter. I conquered the country but not one of its citizens,” he says.

Suddenly from ‘Maharaj’ he joined the ranks of the oppressed.

GANGULY SAYS WHEN THERE WAS DISCUSSION IN 2004 ON WHO COULD SUCCEED JOHN WRIGHT, CHAPPELL’S NAME FLASHED IN HIS MIND.

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