Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly has revealed that ex-India coach Greg Chappell had once approached him in 2011, expressing his desire to coach the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) while Dada was the captain of the franchise. The revelation comes as a surprise, especially since the fallout between the two in the mid-2000s that saw Ganguly being dropped from the Indian team while Chappel was the coach. Although Ganguly was released by KKR ahead of the mega auction in 2011, he revealed how Chappell had approached him and his email was ignored.
When Ganguly ignored Chappell’s plea
Speaking on AddaGB podcast, Ganguly, who was then the KKR captain, revealed that he had recieved an email from Chappell in 2011 stating that he intended to become the coach of KKR with Dada as the captain of the side. The former Indian captain said that people would have surely thought that the ex-India coach couldn’t possibly fool Ganguly once again.
“He (Chappell) had emailed me in 2011, when I was KKR captain. I was checking my mail one morning at my England home. I saw his mail and thought, ‘Am I still sleeping?’. Then I checked it properly, checked the name and checked the ID, because a lot of fake mails come. He wanted to coach KKR. With me as captain! “(People) must be thinking that Dada couldn’t be that big of a fool. He might have been a fool once, but surely he couldn’t be fooled again,” Ganguly said.
The controversy between Chappell and Ganguly came to the fore in 2005 and 2006 when the former was newly appointed as the Team India coach. Ganguly was stripped off captaincy and was replaced by Rahul Dravid in 2005, and then was dropped from the Test team in 2006 after his dispute with the coach. While the move sparked widespread protests, Ganguly was eventually recalled to the side across formats.
Ganguly further reflected on his relationship with Chappell, stating that he does not answer his messages.
“I don’t answer him. I don’t answer people who are not honest,” he stated.
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