NEW DELHI: After former ICC match referee Chris Broad made a startling revelation about the influence of Indian administrators in world cricket and their alleged ability to sway outcomes, former India coach Greg Chappell added fuel to the fire by backing those claims.
In a bombshell interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell alleged that early in his tenure as India's head coach in 2005, then BCCI and ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya had offered to "reduce Sourav Ganguly's suspension."
"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 rot the system; he has to do his time. Dalmiya seemed okay for him to miss."
Chappell's remarks came in the wake of Broad's shocking exposé, in which he revealed that he had been asked to "be lenient" and not penalise India for a slow over-rate while officiating a match.
When Broad was requested to 'be lenient'
Broad, while talking to The Telegraph, said that during the game in which India were short of the mandated over-rate, he got a call that asked him to ease his approach due to the "greatness of the team."
"India were three or four overs down at the end of a game, so it constituted a fine," Broad recounted. "I got a phone call saying, 'Be lenient, find some time because it's India.' So we had to find some time and bring it down below the threshold. The very next game, exactly the same thing happened. [Sourav 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.'"
"India got all the money and have now taken over the ICC," Broad said. "It's a much more political position now than it ever has been."
