'Rahul Dravid had to separate us': Virender Sehwag recalls ugly Greg Chappell episode; 'Tell your coach...'

Virender Sehwag recalls ugly Greg Chappell episode (AFP Photos)

Former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell's association with the Indian cricket team never bore fruit as it was anticipated. It was rather opposite and is remembered as one of the most controversial period of Indian cricket history. The coach had a fallout with several players and was the reason behind Sourav Ganguly's exit from the national side. In fact, India also made a group stage exit from the 2007 ODI World Cup under the Australian's coaching.

While Ganguly's rivalry with Chappell is well known among the fans, what many don't is an ugly episode involving the Australian and then India opener Virender Sehwag. The former India cricketer in a podcast (The Life Saver) opened up about an instance with Chappell that left him hurt.

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"There was a time when I wasn't scoring runs, and he (Chappell) told me, 'if you don’t move your feet, you won’t score runs at the international level'. I replied back saying, 'Greg, I have scored 6000 runs in Test cricket at an average of more than 50'. He said it doesn’t matter and again told me if I don’t move my feet, I won’t score runs. We had a big argument. Rahul Dravid, who was the captain then, had to separate us.

"The next day, when I was going to bat, he said, 'Make sure you score runs; otherwise, I will drop you.' I was like, 'Do whatever you want'. Imagine a batter is going to bat, and that's the kind of thing he hears from the coach," Sehwag recalled.

Continuing with the episode, Sehwag added: "When I took strike, I started smashing the ball and reached 99 runs before Lunch. When I was entering the dressing room, Dravid was standing there. I told him, 'Tell your coach not to come near me.' I had my lunch, and after returning, I continued batting. I was out close to Tea after scoring 184. Then I looked at him [Chappell] standing in a corner and told him, 'Doesn’t matter if I move my feet or not, I know how to score runs'."

While Sehwag didn't mention the match he was referring to, in all likelihood it was the 2006 Test between India and the West Indies at Gros Islet. Sehwag's 180, along with centuries from Dravid (140) and Mohammad Kaif (148 not out), powered India to 588/8 declared but the contest ended in a draw.