'Used to leak information': Former India cricketer opens old wounds of 2007 World Cup

No one knows what went wrong with the Rahul Dravid-led side during the 2007 World Cup when Team India exited the 50-over tournament in the group stage after losing crucial matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The 2006-07 season is viewed as one of the darkest chapters in Indian cricket, and there was no end to controversies under head coach Greg Chappell's tenure. Former India batter Robin Uthappa opened up on India's group stage exit from the 2007 World Cup. He also accused coach Greg Chappell of ‘running agendas.’(Credit - X )

Former India batter Robin Uthappa has revealed what went wrong with the side's campaign during the World Cup. He also accused Chappell of "running agendas" and alleged that the legendary Australia batter used to "leak dressing room information."

Greg Chappell was no stranger to controversies during his tenure with Team India. He famously ousted the then-captain, Sourav Ganguly, from the team. The rift between the two played out in public, and Chappell could never win the trust of the fanatic cricketing public in India.

The exit from the 2007 World Cup proved to be the final nail in the coffin as Chappell resigned as the head coach.

Speaking to Lallantop, Uthappa said, "Us team ka mahool bahut kaharab tha (The environment of that team was very bad). Greg Chappell was running an agenda. He was coaching with an Aussie mindset, saying, 'This is how we do things in Australia. ' I 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 also had a bad habit of leaking information when things didn’t go according to his plans. That didn’t run well with the players. He leaked dressing room information,” he added.

'Chappell was good to me'

Robin Uthappa further said that Greg Chappell was good to him. He even revealed that the seniors in the side were often at loggerheads with Chappell as he introduced the concept of strength training.

"As a youngster, Greg Chappell was very good to 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," said Uthappa.

"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," he added.

Speaking about how Chappell did not find support from the seniors, Uthappa said, "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," he added.

Click here to read article