Chappell Ganguly controversy

The Chappell Ganguly controversy was a series of events in late 2005 and early 2006, which involved highly publicised infighting in the Indian cricket team between the then newly appointed coach Greg Chappell and then captain Sourav Ganguly. The dispute resulted in the removal of Ganguly as captain and his replacement by vice-captain Rahul Dravid in November 2005, with Ganguly been dropped from the ODI team. Ganguly was eventually dropped from the Test team at the end of January 2006. The dispute stirred up strong emotions in India, ranging from fiery street protests in Ganguly's home town of Kolkata and his home state of West Bengal, to speeches in the Parliament of India. [cite web|url=http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=60060|title=ExpressIndia Report on Loksabha Discussions|accessdate=2007-03-06] Eventually Ganguly was recalled to the team in both forms of cricket in late 2006 after form slumps to other batsmen, and was selected as a part of the Indian team for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Background

Chappell, a former captain of the Australian cricket team, was selected as the new Indian coach, after John Wright returned to New Zealand when his contract expired at the end of the 2004/05 international season. India went through an indifferent 2004-05 season, losing the Border Gavaskar Trophy, their first series loss to Australia on Indian soil since 1969, and then squandering a 1-0 Test series lead against Pakistan to concede a drawn series 1-1 and then losing the last four ODIs under Wright to lose the ODI series 4-2.

India's first tournament under Chappell was the 2005 Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka, with Dravid captaining the team. This came about after Ganguly was serving a 4 match suspension for slow over rates during the series against Pakistan in early 2005. The tournament saw Chappell introduce young batsmen such as Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao, due to the suspension of Ganguly and the axing of V. V. S. Laxman. With Ganguly's suspension expiring, he was reinstated as the captain on the tour to Zimbabwe. Ganguly entered the series having not scored a century for almost two years since late 2003, when he scored 144 against Australia in Brisbane.

Zimbabwe tour

The series saw Ganguly scoring a century in the First Test in Bulawayo, taking over 250 balls to accumulate his runs against an attack considered to be one of the worst in world cricket, which was severely depleted by the exodus of white players under the regime of Robert Mugabe. After his century, Ganguly made defiant comments to the media, in which he accused members of team management of trying to pressure him to resign as captain, although he would not name individuals. [ [http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/219375.html Cricinfo - 'I was asked to step down as captain' - Ganguly ] ] Later during the tour, Chappell sent an email to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which criticised Ganguly as being unfit to lead the team. The email was leaked, and upon returning to India, both Ganguly and Chappell were summoned to a BCCI board meeting in Mumbai. [ [http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/220203.html Cricinfo - India awaits judgment day ] ] At the conclusion of the meeting, both resolved to work together in the best "interests of Indian cricket". [ [http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/220337.html Cricinfo - Chappell and Ganguly both stay ] ]

The division amongst the team became public when off spinner Harbhajan Singh earned the ire of cricket authorities by publicly attacking Chappell and defending Ganguly after the team returned to India. [cite news|title = Harbhajan comes to Ganguly's defense| url= http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/220115.html| publisher = Cricinfo|accessdate = 2007-02-07| date = 2005-09-25] Harbhajan claimed that Chappell used "double standards" and instilled "fear and insecurity" into the team. The Punjab Cricket Association called him to explain his actions, [cite news|title= Harbhajan asked to appear before Punjab board| url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/220271.html| publisher = Cricinfo|accessdate = 2007-02-07| date =2005-09-27] but he was not punished after offering an apology. [cite news|title= Harbhajan escapes rap for comments| url= http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/220503.html| publisher = Cricinfo|accessdate = 2007-02-07| date = 2005-09-29] This resulted in a gag order being placed on members of the team. [ [http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/220143.html Cricinfo - Indian board gags players ] ]

Ganguly's ODI omission

In October 2005, Ganguly suffered an injury which forced him to be unavailable for the first four ODIs of a seven match ODI series against the touring Sri Lanka. This delayed a definitive decision on whether Ganguly would continue as Indian captain, with Dravid appointed in his absence. After the team took an unbeatable 4-0 series lead, the squad was reviewed for the final three matches. Although changes were made to the team, Ganguly was overlooked, and Dravid continued to lead the team for the rest of the series. At the end of the series which India claimed 6-1, Ganguly was again omitted for the ODI series against South Africa.

When the Indian team arrived at Eden Gardens in Calcutta for the third ODI of the series, an angry Bengali public greeted the team bus, chanting and waving banners with anti-Chappell and pro-Ganguly sentiment. Cameras captured a middle finger being displayed to the protestors, attributed to be the finger of Chappell. During the match, the Indian team were booed and the South African batsmen were cheered as they accumulated the runs necessary for a ten-wicket victory.

Test retention

When the squad for the subsequent Test series against Sri Lanka was announced, Ganguly was included at the expense of paceman Zaheer Khan. At the time, BCCI chairman of selectors Kiran More justified the inclusion of Ganguly, as a "batting all rounder", despite Ganguly's Test bowling average being above 50. The announcement also resolved the captaincy issue, with Dravid named as captain, and Virender Sehwag as his deputy.

Prior to the first Test in Chennai, debate centred on whether batsman Yuvraj Singh, who had been named man of the series against South Africa, would replace Ganguly in the middle order. Ganguly was retained, in a rain affected match, but did not score highly. The Yuvraj Ganguly debate was taken from the equation for the second Test at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, when Sehwag was hospitalised with illness, allowing both to play. Ganguly made 39 and 40 in the Test, while Yuvraj recovered from a first innings duck to score an unbeaten 75 in the second to set up a winning victory target. At the end of the Test, More announced that Ganguly had been dropped from the squad, with Mohammad Kaif replacing him. He justified the decision by stating that it would be inappropriate to leave an experienced player like Ganguly out of the team and on the bench, implying that Ganguly and not Yuvraj would have been dropped on the return of Sehwag. As it turned out, Dravid became ill and was forced to withdraw from the Third Test in Ahmedabad, and Kaif played after being selected with the intention of avoiding Ganguly's humiliation as a reserve batsman. Kaif failed to make a large contribution the Third Test, while Yuvraj scored another half century.

The decision to drop Ganguly resulted in widespread sympathy and praise for a man who had been previously reviled by the Indian cricket following, resulting in further street protests in Calcutta. This included organised protests by Bengali organisations, politicians, including the blockading of rail transport in Bengal. Ganguly's cause was taken up by federal parlimentarians in the Lok Sabha.

Despite being dropped from both ODI and Test teams, at the end of December 2006, Ganguly retained his A-grade BCCI contract, although Yuvraj and Kaif, who had replaced him in the Test team and were established members of the ODI team, remained on a B-grade contract.

Pakistan tour

With the announcement of the team to tour arch rivals Pakistan in January 2006, Ganguly was again recalled to the Test team, with Kaif dropped. Leading up to the first Test in Lahore, this still left Ganguly appearing to be out of the team, with Yuvraj having recorded consecutive half-centuries. After a debate with Chappell and Dravid in the middle of the stadium before the start of the Test which was reported by observers to be heated, Ganguly found himself in the team, after specialist opener Gautam Gambhir was dropped to accommodate him, forcing Dravid to play as a makeshift opener along with Sehwag. On a batting friendly surface, Pakistan amassed more than 650 runs before declaring. Dravid and Sehwag responded with a 410 run opening stand, just three short of the world Test record set by fellow Indians Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy in 1956. The match ended after Sehwag's dismissal, the last of many interruptions due to bad light. As a result, Ganguly did not have an opportunity with the bat. He was subsequently dropped for the Second Test in Faisalabad as India included an extra bowler on another batting friendly pitch, with Dravid continuing as a makeshift opener. After the Faisalabad Test ended in another high scoring draw, the Third Test was held on a green bowler friendly wicket in Karachi. With six batsmen required, Ganguly was recalled instead of the specialist opener Gambhir. India decided to retain Dravid as the makeshift opener, having scored consecutive centuries in the role. Dravid's success did not continue, failing to pass single figures in both innings. The Indian batsmen were unable to cope with the seaming conditions, and lost the Test and series 1-0. Yuvraj top-scored with a century, while Ganguly managed only 34 and 37. Critics questioned the tenability of the Dravid opening experiment which accommodated Ganguly in the Test team.

Yuvraj further enhanced his standing in the subsequent ODI series, scoring a century and averaging more than 100, being named man of the series for the second consecutive ODI series. Ganguly was not recalled to the ODI team, which continued its recent success with a 4-1 result.

England series

Ganguly's chances of being selected against England in their March 2006 tour of India received a boost when Yuvraj suffered a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the First Test in Nagpur. This opened a vacancy for Ganguly in the middle order, despite the return of Dravid to the middle order after the opening experiment was discarded and specialist opener Wasim Jaffer was selected. Despite Yuvraj publicly backing Ganguly to replace him in the team, the selectors dropped Ganguly from the squad entirely, recalling Kaif and selecting ODI batsman Suresh Raina for his first Test squad. Upon Yuvraj's return injury, he resumed his position in the middle order, replacing Kaif. Ganguly was again overlooked for the ODI series, as the selectors persisted with the core of the team which had helped defeat Pakistan. They guided India to a comprehensive 5-1 win over England.

West Indies tour

Despite an injury to Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly was again overlooked in favour of Kaif and Raina when then Test squad was announced. This effectively left him outside the top eight Test batsmen in the eye of the BCCI, and was not selected in the ODI team as the selectors persisted with the squad which had recorded 17 wins and five losses since Dravid's appointment. As the team returned to India at the end of the season in July, Ganguly had been out of the team in both forms of the game for five months.

References