Who said what after Sachin Tendulkar's ring master remark against Greg Chappell

Sachin Tendulkar, in his autobiography Playing it My Way, has levelled a series of allegations against Australian great Greg Chappell, saying thatduring the latters tenure as the Indian head coach between 2005-2007, he acted like a ring master, tried to get rid ofsenior players to bring Indian cricket under his control,secretly plotted to replace the then national captainRahul Dravid with Tendulkar himself and wasresponsible for the teams disappointing show in the 2007 50-over World Cup.

#1 Sunil Gavaskar

You don’t blame coach for defeats

"I don't think you can blame the coach entirely for what happens on the field. I don't think that's fair. It is the players' batting and bowling that has to do the job. At that time there was some rumbling about Chappell, so why did the senior players not tell the truth about what was happening in 2007 to Sharad Pawar (the then BCCI chief)?"

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#2 Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly happy at Tendulkar opening up

“I am happy to see the way Tendulkar has written the book. Today he has done a lot of help to Indian cricket and hopefully it is an eye-opener to all. Happy that Sachin has written about true facts of that period.

“I lost my captaincy in 2005 November-December and World Cup was in early 2007. Rahul became the captain. And another eight months time, he needed another captain (in Sachin). It goes to show his thoughts, goes to show what damage he has done to Indian cricket, goes to show the character of the man. He is someone who cannot be trusted whether it’s Ganguly, Dravid or Tendulkar.”

Time for sorry is gone

“He can call up Tendulkar, or Dravid. But he dare dial my number. If he's hearing this on TV, he dare calls Sourav Ganguly. The time for sorry is gone. And I have finished playing and moved on. These are mistakes which are unpardonable.”

Doesn’t find fault with players for not speaking up early

“Sometimes as a player you do not want to get into a controversy. You tend to stay out of it. I can understand where these players are coming from on what they wanted to say and why they wanted to keep quiet, because they saw what happened to me.”

“I lost my captaincy after winning the series 2-0, and also getting a Test match 100. I never captained India after that. I couldn't play one-day cricket in spite of being the best ODI player in the world at that time. They have seen what has happened. They didn't want to risk it, and it is quite natural to stay out of controversy. I don't blame them.”

Dravid cannot control Chappell

"I really don't want to go back to that period, you have seen it in the results. (It was) one of the worst phases of Indian cricket and worst phase a cricketer can go through, especially someone like me. There were lies after lies and six months later he wanted Rahul removed and Sachin as captain. This goes on to show how the man went about his job.

"I was not surprised to see India not qualifying for the next round (in 2007 World Cup). When I came back to the team, I had spoken to Dravid about that much later and told him that these were the things going on. He said he knew it all but 'couldn't control Greg'."

I hope I can tell my story someday

“Lot of things were written (about me) and I lost my captaincy. Later I came back to the team and played for India But it was not very good. I am happy that someone of Sachin’s credibility has spoken about it.

I wish some day I could tell my side of the story. Right from the Zimbabwe tour to the next one or one-and-a-half years, I have restrained myself from doing that but I am happy that Sachin has done it.”

#3 Zaheer Khan

Chappell tried to finish my career

"I understood one thing. This man had agendas and was getting personal. He had his set ideas and if you didn't fall in line, then you have to be prepared to fall by the wayside. He tried to finish my career but I believe I came back even stronger in South Africa during the end of 2006.

"He had some issues with the senior guys in the team. He tried many ways to stop my comeback into the Indian team during the phase when I was out of the team for nearly a year. I came to know later that everytime when my name was discussed, he (Chappell) would find means to delay my comeback by 3-4 months.”

Threatened me

"After he was appointed the coach of the Indian team, he once came upto me and told "Zaheer, you will not be playing for India till I remain the coach.

"I was so taken aback that I couldn't react for some time. I was totally zapped. Like what do I do now? Do I revolt? Do I speak to the captain about what's happening? Do I take his comments at face value? Why is he taking it on me."

He was a control freak

"I understood one thing. This man had agendas and was getting personal. He had his set ideas and if you didn't fall in line, then you have to be prepared to fall by the wayside. He tried to finish my career but I believe I came back even stronger in South Africa during the end of 2006.

“Zaheer didn't stop short of calling him a "control freak". "He had some issues with the senior guys in the team. He tried many ways to stop my comeback into the Indian team during the phase when I was out of the team for nearly a year. I came to know later that everytime when my name was discussed, he (Chappell) would find means to delay my comeback by 3-4 months."

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#4 Harbhajan Singh

Certain set of players sucked up to coach to save their place

"Chappell destroyed Indian cricket to such an extent that it required at least 3 years to again get back on track. The worst part was some players in that team, who sucked upto the coach and would supply selective misinformation creating bigger rifts.

"When the right time comes, the names will be revealed. Some people thought that just blindly following Chappell would do them world of good without realising that Indian cricket was going nowhere."

Chappell’s mail against Ganguly

"Sourav was batting out there in the middle and this man was typing a critical e-mail against Sourav, sitting right there in that dressing room. He had no interest in the proceedings of the match. How did I get to know, I was sitting next to him and had a suspicion. Once he went to the washroom, I peeped into his laptop and the mail was lying open. I was stunned to see the contents.

"Once Sourav came back, I told him about this e-mail and he seemed unaware and equally shocked. "There were seven guys that he wanted to get rid of."

Recounts an incident after India’s Test victory against West Indies at Kingston in 2006

"In the first innings, West Indies were out for 103 and I took 5 for 13. When we came back to the dressing room, there wasn't even a pat on the back or 'well bowled'. Instead he congratulated another bowler I don't wish to name. It was insulting. He always had a target of dropping me but unlike others, he couldn't do that with me. His anger? Because I stood by Sourav, when he (Chappell) was taking it on him.

"Sourav built an Indian team between 2001 and 2005 while Chappell destroyed it entirely."

"He used players against each other, used the erstwhile BCCI officials according to his needs, created an atmosphere which no one would wants to remember. He imported negativity with his stature."

Made us not trust each other

"He was supposed to take India to the next level in international cricket. But during that phase, there was one point of time, we were playing like U-14s."

"It was a time, when during tours, we were scared of each other. We couldn't confide our feelings, anguish or despair because we could not simply trust each other. The atmosphere was so claustrophobic."

#5 Muttiah Muralitharan

Don’t create controversy

"Tendulkar has told the trut

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#6 Rahul Dravid

No comments

"I am sorry but I haven't read the excerpt. That was a private conversation between two people and I am not privy to that. And besides I haven't read the book. Once I read I will share what I feel, if I think there is a need to react."

Disagrees with Ganguly

"If Ganguly is saying I could not control Greg Chappell, he is entitled to an opinion. He has played many years for India. But he can't put words in my mouth as I have never had any such conversation with him.

“I have had a good relationship with all the coaches I have worked under."

#7 VVS Laxman

Chappell Preferred Yuvraj Singh over me

"This happened in 2006 at the Wankhede Stadium when India were playing England. Yuvraj Singh was picked ahead of me and five bowlers were fielded. We were going to the West Indies for a four-Test series after that and he asked me if I would open.

"I mentioned that back in 2000, I had decided I would not open anymore after it didn't work for me in the first four years. I was consistent in the middle-order. Chappell asked me my age and said - Don't you think 31 is too young an age to sit at home? I had a very good run under him. I was the second highest run-scorer under him."

Worst dressing room I have ever been a part of

"In 2006, it was the worst dressing-room I was part of. I have played under various coaches and captains for 16 years but that year was the worst atmosphere in a dressing-room.

"More than anything else, it was very evident that there was an attempt to create a rift. A cricket team is like a family and there is no point in creating a divide between seniors and juniors. It was very unfortunate. The seniors felt very insecure. We never understood why Chappell thought that way when the seniors were playing well."

"Chappell took Indian cricket backwards."

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#8 Greg Chappell

Tendulkar’s claims not true

"The claims made in Sachin's new book were brought to my attention earlier today. Whilst I don't propose to get into a war of words, I can state quite clearly that during my time as Indian coach I never contemplated Sachin replacing Rahul Dravid as captain. I was therefore very surprised to read the claims made in the book.

"During those years, I only ever visited Sachin's home once, and that was with our physio and assistant coach during Sachin's rehabilitation from injury, at least 12 months earlier than what was reported in the book.

"We enjoyed a pleasant afternoon together but the subject of captaincy was never raised."