The Chappell–Ganguly controversy (Indian captain vs. coach) was caused by a series of events in late 2005 and early 2006 which involved highly publicised infighting in the Indian cricket team between the then newly appointed coach Greg Chappell and captain Sourav Ganguly. The dispute resulted in the removal of Ganguly as captain and his replacement by vice-captain Rahul Dravid in November 2005, with Ganguly being dropped from the ODI team. Ganguly was also dropped from the Test team at the end of January 2006. The dispute stirred up strong emotions in India, ranging from fiery street protests in Ganguly's home town of Kolkata and his home state of West Bengal, to speeches in the Parliament of India. Eventually Ganguly was recalled to the team in both forms of cricket in late 2006 after his replacements lost form, and was selected as a part of the Indian team for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
Background
Greg Chappell, a former captain of the Australian cricket team, was selected as the new Indian coach, after the incumbent coach John Wright, a former captain of the New Zealand cricket team, did not renew his contract at the end of the 2004/05 international season. India went through an indifferent 2004–05 season, being eliminated from the Champions Trophy in the Group stage, losing the Border Gavaskar Trophy by a margin of 2–1, their first series loss to Australia on home soil since 1969, squandering a 1–0 Test series lead against Pakistan to level the series 1-1 and then losing the last four ODIs to lose the ODI series against the same opponents 4–2. However, John Wright's tenure had also seen India enter the finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup after a poor start to the tournament, sharing victory in the 2002 Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and achieving famous Test wins in England, Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies. John Wright's role in historic victories for India brought importance and prestige to the position of coach in Indian cricket.
Chappell was chosen over the other contenders Dav Whatmore, Mohinder Amarnath, Graham Ford, Desmond Haynes, Tom Moody and John Emburey in a highly publicised selection process. Although lacking the experience and coaching credentials of his rivals, Chappell had emerged as the favourite in the media, and secured the appointment with the active support of the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who had earlier taken batting tips from Chappell during the successful 2003-04 tour of Australia. Ganguly had put forth Chappell's name twice in April 2005, even when other senior members in the national team were not consulted on the matter. Chappell soon became the centre of the Indian media's attention, and his prominence and dominant personality soon began to clash with Ganguly, who had earned a reputation for being a successful and tough captain.
India's first tournament under Chappell was the 2005 Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka, with Rahul Dravid captaining the team. This came about after Ganguly was serving a 4 match suspension for slow over rates during the series against Pakistan in early 2005. The tournament saw Chappell introduce young batsmen such as Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao, due to the suspension of Ganguly and the axing of V. V. S. Laxman. With Ganguly's suspension expiring, he was reinstated as the captain on the tour to Zimbabwe. Ganguly entered the series having not scored a Test century for almost two years since late 2003, when he scored 144 against Australia in Brisbane.
Zimbabwe tour and email leak
The tour began with a warmup game during which Chappell asked Ganguly to step down from the captaincy and focus on his batting. Chappell said that Ganguly's slump in batting form would affect the "other areas of his game", but expressed confidence about Ganguly regaining his form on the tour.
Before the first Test, Chappell stated that they should pick the best XI for the match, and that, if left to him, he would pick both Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif ahead of Ganguly. Irked by this, Ganguly decided to pack his bags and leave the tour. The team director Amitabh Chowdhary, along with Chappell and Dravid, insisted that he continue to play, as the captain leaving the team in the middle of the tour would be disastrous. After rumours emerged that Ganguly had allegedly faked an injury during the match, he made defiant comments to the media, in which he accused members of team management of trying to pressure him to resign as captain, although he would not name individuals. He stated that the call for him to step down before the Test helped him find the "extra determination" for this innings.