Sourav Ganguly: Even Greg Chappell's brother Ian had doubts over him being coach

Sourav Ganguly

Even brother Ian Chappell was not very positive about Greg Chappell taking over as Team India coach in 2005 and so was Sunil Gavaskar, but Sourav Ganguly says he decided to ignore all these warnings and follow his instincts on the appointment. In fact, Ganguly was in awe of Chappell prior to his appointment and even embarked on a 'secret trip' to Australia in 2003. 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 deep cricketing knowledge," Ganguly writes in his autobiography "A Century is Not Enough".

"I thought Greg Chappell would be the best person to take us to the number one 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 and published by Juggernaut, says. "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 an urgent discussion. "He shared in confidence that even his 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.

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