Former India coach Greg Chappell backed Chris Broad’s statement about pressure to be lenient towards Sourav Ganguly. The claims revive the 2005 over-rate controversy that involved the then-Indian captain and ICC officials.
In his interview with The Telegraph, Chris Broad said he was asked by higher authorities to “go easy” on Ganguly. The senior match referee revealed that someone influential called him and told him not to impose a sanction.
While speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell supported that account. He said former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya offered to reduce Ganguly’s suspension so he could join the Sri Lanka tour.
“Dalmiya offered to have his suspension reduced so that he could go to Sri Lanka at the start of my tenure,” Chappell said.
“I said no, I don’t want to rort the system, he has to do his time. Dalmiya seemed OK for him to miss,” he added.
Background of the Over-Rate Controversy
The issue began in April 2005 when Chris Broad fined Sourav Ganguly after the third ODI against Pakistan in Jamshedpur. Ganguly then faced a six-match ban for repeating the offence, later reduced to four after an appeal.
Later that year, Clive Lloyd suspended him for two matches after another over-rate violation. Broad recently revisited the case, saying the ICC faced political pressure during that period.
Chris Broad’s Account of Political Pressure
In his Telegraph interview, Broad explained how politics influenced disciplinary decisions.
“India were three, four overs down at the end of a game, so it constituted a fine,” Broad said. “I got a phone call saying, ‘be lenient, find some time because it’s India’. And it’s like, right, OK.”
“So we had to find some time, brought it down below the threshold. The very next game, exactly the same thing happened. He [Ganguly] didn’t listen to any of the hurry-ups and so I phoned and said, ‘what do you want me to do now?’ and I was told ‘just do him’. So there were politics involved, right from the start,” Broad added.
The statements from Greg Chappell and Chris Broad reignite the Sourav Ganguly over-rate controversy. Their revelations highlight how political influence and administrative pressure affected ICC actions during that era.
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