Greg Chappell’s tenure as the coach of the Indian cricket team was marred with controversies. The side faced some humiliating loss during that period and also bagged headlines for wrong reasons. In fact, many prominent Indian players like Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh have criticized the Australian on many occasions for ‘disrupting’ the side. Destroying Irfan Pathan’s career by promoting him at number three was one of the allegations which Chappell faced. However, the former Indian all-rounder recently revealed that it wasn’t Chappell but Sachin Tendulkar who insisted the then captain Rahul Dravid to promote him in the batting order. Irfan Pathan Lends Financial Help to Chennai-Based Cobbler Who Depends Upon IPL for Income.

“I had said this after I had announced my retirement as well. Those who talk about Greg Chappell spoiling my career, by sending me as an allrounder at No.3 and all these things actually, it was Sachin paaji’s idea. He advised Rahul Dravid to send me at No.3. He said ‘he (Irfan) has the power to hit sixes, can take on the new ball and can play the fast bowlers well too,” Pathan told TV presenter Raunak Kapoor on his channel Beyond The Field.

Making his debut at the age of 19, the southpaw burst onto the scenes with his ability to swing the ball and batting prowess too. Many also hailed him as the next Kapil Dev. He was first sent to bat at number three during the 2005 ODI series against Sri Lanka.

“It was tried for the first time in the series against Sri Lanka when Muralitharan was at his peak, and the idea was to attack him as well. (Dilhara) Fernando back then had started the concept of the split-finger slower ball. Batsmen didn’t understand that too well, so the belief was if I could pull it off, it could work in our favour, especially since it was the first match of the series,” he recalled.

Although, the left-handed batsman played few good knocks at the position. However, he wasn’t consistent. Also, there was also a dip in his performance with the ball. While batting at number three in 18 ODI innings, Pathan scored 487 runs at an average of below 30 with three fifties.

Pathan also said that Chappell shouldn’t be blamed for destroying his career. “It’s not true that Greg Chappell spoiled my career. Since he was not from India, it is easier to make him a punching bag,” Pathan said.

After going back to lower down the order, Pathan went back to his prime. However, his injuries played a crucial role in shortening his career. The southpaw didn’t play a single match after 2012 and he finally announced his retirement from the game earlier this year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 01, 2020 09:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).