Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh recently opened up about the challenging period the Indian cricket team endured during Greg Chappell’s tenure as head coach. Following India’s runner-up finish at the 2003 ODI World Cup, where they lost to Australia in the final, Chappell was appointed head coach in June 2005. Given his stature as one of the game’s greats, his appointment generated immense excitement among fans, who looked forward to seeing him work with stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
However, Chappell’s stint was marred by controversy and ultimately culminated in India’s shocking group-stage exit from the 2007 ODI World Cup.
Speaking on the Prakhar Gupta Podcast, Harbhajan described that period as “the darkest days of Indian cricket” and accused Chappell of adopting a “divide and rule” policy within the team.
“The way Chappell behaved with Dada (Ganguly), and whatever he did with the Indian team during those days, it was one of the darkest and worst chapters in the history of Indian cricket. Appointing him as head coach was one of the worst decisions made by the Indian management. He implemented a divide-and-rule policy, where he made the players fight among themselves while acting as the ruler,” said Harbhajan.
Harbhajan Singh reveals on Prakhar’s podcast Greg Chappell’s shocking conspiracy that destroyed Team India He revealed how Chappell divided the team and destroyed it’s unity, as India was the only team that could have beaten Australia back then. Bro really played a dirty game.
— Raya (@Raya1ry) October 21, 2026
“He spoiled the entire team. The players who played together in the 2003 ODI World Cup and shared such great bonding were no longer talking to each other. Our team was one of the strongest and most closely-knit teams, and he literally broke it apart,” he added.
The former off-spinner further suggested that Chappell may have deliberately created divisions within the dressing room to weaken the side, arguing that India were among the few teams capable of consistently challenging Australia during that era.
“In my opinion, Chappell’s main strategy was something else. In those days, India were the only team that consistently challenged Australia. It’s possible that he tried to divide us so that we couldn’t play as a united team on the field and would eventually lose matches. The same thing happened during the 2007 World Cup,” he said.
At the 2007 World Cup, India, who had reached the final in 2003, suffered a humiliating group-stage elimination. One of their biggest setbacks came in the form of a shock defeat to Bangladesh, which played a major role in their early exit from the tournament.
