Rahul Dravid wanted India to be the best team, but didn't receive support from his teammates, reckons Greg Chappell

Greg Chappell, the former Australian cricketer, said that Rahul Dravid had the potential to make Team India the number-one ranked side in the world. However, he also mentioned that Dravid didn’t get much support from his national teammates. Chappell, who had a controversial stint as the coach of the Indian team, was of the opinion that there was ‘resistance’ from the other players.

Dravid went on to lead India in 25 Tests and 79 ODIs and won 50 matches. At that point in time, Sourav Ganguly and Chappell were at loggerheads and the former was eventually dropped from the team. In 2007, under Dravid’s captaincy, India failed to qualify for the second round in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

Greg Chappell recalls his stint as the Indian coach

“Dravid was really invested in India becoming the best team in the world. Sadly, not everyone in the team had the same feeling. They would rather concentrate on being in the team. There was some resistance from some of the senior players because some of them were coming to the end of their careers,” Chappell was quoted as saying on Cricket Life Stories Podcast.

Chappell stated that Ganguly’s axing from the team sent a clear message to the other players regarding their position. Chappell’s stint as the Indian coach ended after the disastrous show in the Caribbean. India had lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to bow out of the tournament.

“When Sourav got dropped from the team, we had a lot of attention from the players, because they realized if he can go, anyone can go. We had a great 12 months, but then the resistance got too much, Ganguly came back into the team.

“The message from the players was loud and clear – ‘We don’t want change.’ Even though the board offered me a new contract, I decided that I did not need that kind of stress,” he added.

In 2007 itself, India won the T20 World Cup in South Africa without the likes of Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid. It was also the mega event, which saw the emergence of MS Dhoni as the skipper of the Men in Blue. Indian cricket didn’t look back from thereon.