Former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa opened an all-out assault on Greg Chappell regarding the environment he fostered during his stint as a coach for India. Post the side’s good run with John Wright, who was appointed as the coach of India in 2001, India assigned the services of Chappell the former Australian batsman in 2005 as the then head coach.
Greg Chappell was running an agenda- Robin Uthappa
Till the 2007 ODI World Cup, however, the performances were quite commendable and out of this Chappell found himself in the middle of this frosty relationship with then captain Sourav Ganguly. More crass verbal expressions between the two led to Ganguly’s exclusion from the Indian ODI and test teams before the Sri Lanka series at home toward the end of 2005.
However, things went wrong and the turnaround saw Chappell leave India’s team pre Super Eights in the 2007-ODI World Cup in the West Indies.
Commenting on his experience with Chappell as the Indian head coach Robin Uthappa said on the Lallantop YouTube channel
“Greg Chappell was running an agenda. He was coaching with an Aussie mindset that ‘This is how we do things in Australia’. II don’t think he ever respected Indian culture. He came in and tried to bring the Australian culture. The environment of that team was very bad,”
He Added:
“In Cricket the most interesting thing is that 15-20 people from different states, culture and households are playing for one aim that is to play for India. There is a magic in that. When you get that right, playing cricket is something else,”
“We enjoyed each other’s success in 2007 T20 World Cup. We played like a unit. Even if I got out, I want you (next batter) to score runs. Go and win the match for us. It doesn’t matter, who is scoring runs or taking wickets,”
Chappell’s Toxic Tenure: Lack of Player Support and Allegations of Negative Energy
In addition to the 2007 World Cup failure, Chappell received no support from the players, which is not shocking given that several players have since accused the Australian of bringing toxic energy during his tenure as the team’s coach.
While it is high drama that continues to unfold in the Indian dressing room under Chappell, young piston Robin Uthappa said Chappell was the right personality he needed at the beginning of his international career.
Robin Uthappa got his first feel of the Indian team during the ODI series against England in 2006 when Chappell was still coaching the team.
“As a youngster Greg Chappell was very good for me. I just entered the team. I was young, and he used to back youngsters. As a 20-year-old, a dream was to play for India, win for India, hopefully one World Cup I will win for India. When you get that opportunity to play for the country, you feel like boss you don’t need anything else. I will give everything for my team. I played with that mindset,” said Uthappa.
Chappell’s Stiff Fitness Stance: A Source of Frustration for Senior Players
In his view, he generated the impression that Chappell’s stiff stand on fitness was irritating to several established players.
“It was during the Greg Chappell era when strength training was introduced. In Australia, it already existed. Greg Chappell saw that missing in India. Fitness was not the way of life. He was trying to bring in change. At that point, he found resistance from the seniors. They were not used to the fact that here is a guy coming and imposing things on us without showing us the basis respect that is shown,” stated Uthappa.
Chappell was the coach of Indian team during this time when Uthappa was a part of the ODI side and had to play the disastrous 2007 World Cup.