Shortly after the Indian team landed in Bangladesh, a TV sting operation by Headlines Today and Aaj Tak has revealed fresh fissures in the Indian team.
indian team 2189
Whispers about widespread friction between erstwhile Australian coach Greg Chappell and seniors in the Indian team have been doing the rounds for quite some time now.
However, current Indian manager Ravi Shastri had sought to dispel such rumors pointing out that the camaraderie in the team was unbelievable. But in the sting operation, national selectors, Ranjib Biswal, Bhupinder Singh, Venkatapathy Raju and Sanjay Jagdale, were shown to be expressing their displeasure not just with Chappell but also noting the widespread divisions in the team.
Stunningly, Bhupinder Singh says that there were times when Chappell would go for days not talking to senior players such as Tendulkar, Harbajan Singh or Sehwag. Biswal concurred terming Chappell more as a 'schoolmaster than a friend.'
On more a disturbing note for the Indian cricket fans, the operation revealed that both Tendulkar and Ganguly did not support captain Dravid 100%, nursing as they were on their own captaincy aspirations. Interestingly, Jagdale, who was India's tour manager on the ill-fated World Cup misadventure, admitted that there were definitely 'personal problems' in the team.
The vexed endorsement issue was also brought to the fore again with Board secretary Niranjan Shah stressing on the need for just three endorsements per player. And what does the BCCI have to say for all this? It seems to have adopted a 'wait-and-watch' approach. An unnamed official told Cricinfo:
In these sting operations video and audio can sometimes be doctored so we have to wait and see whether these are authentic or not.
Related Stories
R.I.P: Indian cricket is dead!
Big names, big money. Lots of promotion, advertisements, and very very little cricket time. That is how I would describe Indian Cricket. There have been many defeats and few wins, fewer players who choose to accept the responsibility and play well....
Selection issues haunt Indian cricket
The selector's dilemma when selecting the squads for this tour was shifted to the minds of the team management on the eve of the first test match of a two test series against Bangladesh beginning in Chittagong on Friday. And since this is a long season.
Pay Time for Indian Cricket
On the back of the Indian victory, come the payroll tags. The BCCI has followed a graded policy of payment for its centrally contracted players and now, it appears some of the elite of the IPL will be getting their dues as the new list of...
Deja vu for the Indian cricket team
It is deja vu time as the Indian team drag their wearied feet towards the abyss of humiliation, waiting for lady luck to shine down on them. Trailing by 1-3 in the 7 match series, there is little hope for the men in blue as they need to win the remaining.
Virat Kohli And Co. Enjoy Bike Ride before Formula One Racing ( See Pics)
Is it not known that the Indian cricketers can also love demons of speed? Even as some of the Indian cricket team will fly to Noida for the first Formula One Indian Grand Prix, they did enjoy bike rides, although not on the circuit, with the keys firmly w
