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Robin Uthappa claimed that Greg Chappell had no respect for the customs followed in India.
Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa
Retired India batter Robin Uthappa has made some bold accusations about Australia legend Greg Chappell. Uthappa recently opened up on the scars of the 2007 ODI World Cup in an interview. He extensively discussed what went wrong during the tournament that paved the way for India’s shocking exit in the West Indies. Speaking to The Lallantop on YouTube, he said, “Greg Chappell was running an agenda. He was coaching with an Aussie mindset that this is how we do things in Australia.” Uthappa even went on to claim that Chappell had no respect for the customs followed in India. “I don’t think he ever respected Indian culture. He came in and tried to bring the Australian culture,” he added.
In the same interview, Robin Uthappa claimed that Greg Chappel also used to leak dressing room information if his plans failed to work out. “He also had a bad habit that he used to leak information, when things didn’t used to go according to his plans. That didn’t run well with the players. He leaked dressing room information,” the retired batter said
The 2006-07 season is widely regarded as one of the darkest chapters in Indian cricket. Marred by controversies, a Greg Chappell-coached India side lost crucial matches to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group stage of the 2007 World Cup which saw them exit the fifty-over ICC event early. The disaster show was the final nail in the coffin as Chappell resigned from the position as head coach soon after. Gary Kirsten replaced the legendary Australia batter for the same role.
While Greg Chappell’s coaching tenure was surrounded by controversies, Robin Uthappa claimed the Australia legend was always ‘good’ to him. “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, and hopefully, one World Cup I will win for India,” he said. “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, Uthappa added.
Greg Chappell’s resignation was followed by one of the most successful periods in Indian cricket. India went on to win the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup months later before securing the ODI World Cup title on home soil in 2011 with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the team’s skipper.
