Scars of Ganguly-Chappell feud resurface after Chris Broad’s charges

Remember the infamous feud between Sourav Ganguly and Greg Chappell which had a major domino effect in Indian cricket? The former Indian head coach got down to fishing in troubled waters again when he supported a sensational claim by former ICC match referee Chris Broad that he was pressurised by the world governing body to be ‘lenient’ towards then-India captain Ganguly for slow over-rate offences.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Broad — a former England opener who officiated several India games across formats during a long period between 2003 and 2024 — dropped the bombshell that he was once instructed on the phone during a match not to fine India despite a slow over rate. He didn’t identify the exact match but all pointers led to a possible ODI series in 2005.

“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.

‘’India got all the money and have now taken over the ICC so in many ways. I’m pleased I’m not around because it's a much more political position now than it ever has been,’’ said the father of Stuart Broad in an interview which has created major ripples in English and Australian media.

Weighing in on the allegation in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald, Greg went a step and said during his tenure, then BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya offered to get Ganguly’s suspension reduced so that he could be available for a series against Sri Lanka. However, Chappell claimed that he turned down the offer.

“Dalmiya offered to have his suspension reduced so that he could go to Sri Lanka at the start of my tenure,” Chappell said, going on to add: “I said no, I don’t want to rot the system, he has to do his time. Dalmiya seemed OK for him to miss.”

The incident he was referring to was a contentious one for Ganguly’s career as he was first fined by Broad after the third ODI between India and Pakistan in Jamshedpur in April 2005. He was banned for six matches after he repeated his offence during the same series. However, the ban was reduced to four games after an official appeal.

Ganguly was later handed another two-match ban by Clive Lloyd for his second over-rate offence in September that year before he was dropped from the squad and later staged a memorable comeback in 2007. However, what started as a spat between Ganguly and Chappell, with the latter’s secret letter to BCCI accusing the captain of poor work ethic and insecurity in the media being leaked, opened a can of worms.

A number of senior India team members, including Sachin Tendulkar, had reportedly fallen out with Chappell’s ways and the latter exited after the star-studded team’s early exit from 2007 ICC World Cup.

Broad has officiated in 622 international matches across formats, becoming the third-most experienced referee in cricket history.