Greg Chappell was the head coach of Indian team from 2005 to 2007.
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan recalled an incident of confronting Greg Chappell, who coached the Indian team from 2005 to 2007, for constantly creating an atmosphere of insecurity in the team with his threats to drop players for not performing.
Significant fan backlash was directed at Chappell because of the Australian's well-publicized altercation with then-captain Sourav Ganguly, which transpired after a leadership change and Ganguly's abrupt dismissal from the team.
Even though India continued to put on strong performances during his tenure, his departure was caused by his team's unexpected elimination in the 2007 ODI World Cup group stages.
Even while some cricket players have criticized his time with India, others, like Irfan Pathan, have praised and sympathized with his time as coach.
Irfan explained why Chappell's strict persona and his strict coaching approach didn't sit well with the Indian cricketing “culture.”
“He had his way of treating seniors and juniors with the same respect. But in that, he would be a bit more aggressive than one would like. He would tell anyone that if they don't perform, they will be dropped. I realized it was too aggressive, and once I talked to him privately about it,” Irfan said while appearing on the Lallantop show.
“I told him that we already know what you keep saying about being dropped. You don't need to tell us. It is causing insecurity in the team. He looked at me for a while, got a bit upset, and threw some choice words, but then he realized I was right,” said Irfan.
Irfan used a fictitious example to illustrate why it's critical for coaches to "accept" the culture, especially when they're visiting from another nation.
“If I go to Bangladesh or Sri Lanka or England as a coach, and if I don't accept their culture, would their players accept me? Greg Chappell's intention was right, but he wanted to bring an Australian culture. He wanted us to play hard cricket and didn't care what background anyone came from. But you can certainly do it in a much better way," said Irfan.
The former all-rounder went on to discuss his time playing for Middlesex in the county in England.
“I played for the Middlesex County club. You play a four-day match, and then you drive the next day. They gather everyone in a bar before the match. I don't drink, but I need to accept their culture. You are a part of the team, and you need to blend in. If Chappell hadn't missed that one thing, he would've been one of the best coaches,” said Irfan.
Irfan Pathan had some best performances of his career under Greg Chappell’s tenure and excelled as a batter, often batting at no.3 in ODIs.