VVS Laxman has come out strongly in support of claims made by cricket legendSachin Tendulkar that former Indian coach Greg Chappell was a 'ringmaster' who dented the morale of the team. Laxman in an interview to a prominent news channel supported Sachin's views on Chappell. He has also confirmed the trivia shared in excerpts available from Sachin's autobiography that Greg Chappell tried to force him to play as an opener in test matches.
Laxman said that he was really shocked at Greg Chappell's statement when he said that he may be out of the team at the age of 32. It was mainly because Chappell wanted Laxman to open, while the classy Hyderabadi preferred to stick to his middle order position in test matches. It may be recalled that Laxman at the beginning of his career did play as an opener but failed to make much of an impression. Having carved a niche for himself in the number 5/6 spot, Laxman was unwilling to move but Chappell was adamant about upsetting the set combination.
Further commenting on the controversial tenure of Greg Chappell, Laxman said that in his long cricketing life the worst dressing room atmosphere was in 2006. Laxman did not mince words and squarely blamed Chappell for vitiating the atmosphere in the team. Laxman claimed that Chappell used to make seniors insecure by consistently harping on infusing youngsters. According to Laxman, a team should have the right mix of youth and experience and coaches like John Wright and Gary Kirsten managed to strike that balance.
Probed further, Laxman said that the team was at its lowest morale at the start of theSouth Africa tour in 2006. But the team members showed maturity and talked amongst themselves to resolve their differences before the first test and the result was evident in the performance. However, it may be noted that India still went on to lose the series 1-2.
With a hint of regret. Laxman says that he was a huge fan of the cricketer Greg Chappell and even had a picture of the Aussie southpaw in his bedroom. So when Chappell became the coach, Laxman was very excited like most other team members. But the two-year tenure didn't actually pan out the way everyone expected. In Laxman's words, Chappell's handling of the situation was 'not ideal'.
When asked about Sachin's claim that Chappell wanted to remove Dravid to make him captain, Laxman said that he was not aware of the incident. However he said that there is no doubt that Sachin should be believed. Laxman said that they did not reveal such information while playing as the team's morale would have taken a hit and fans would be hurt. But according to him, the team members always indirectly made it clear that they did not enjoy Greg Chappell's tenure as coach.
In a parting shot, Laxman says that Greg Chappell took the team backwards though he stopped short of branding ' Guru Greg' a villain.
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