“Together, we could control Indian cricket for years,” Greg Chappell told Sachin Tendulkar on a visit to his home in Mumbai. Another time, the former India cricket coach exhorted the cricketing legend to help him “take over the reins of the side”. These and many other damning revelations about Chappell have been revealed by Tendulkar in his forthcoming autobiography Playing it My Way.

Chappell asked Tendulkar for help in dethroning Rahul Dravid as captain just before the 2007 World Cup and in return the coach promised that “he would help me in taking over the reins of the side”, writes Tendulkar. But instead, the Master Blaster says he asked the Board of Cricket Control of India, the controlling body in the country, not to send Chappell to the World Cup.

"I was surprised to hear the coach not showing the slightest amount of respect for the captain, with cricket’s biggest tournament [World Cup] just months away," reads one of the excerpts from the autobiography released to the media.

The autobiography is slated to be in stores on Thursday, but Tendulkar’s allegations are already stoking a controversy. Chappell, who coached India for two years, is under fire for being dictatorial and a "ringmaster".  The charges have reinforced accounts, known for years, of the rancorous relationship that Chappell shared with his players.

Former teammates support claims

Some of Tendulkar’s former teammates have come out to confirm these accusations.

Sourav Ganguly, one of India’s longest serving captains, told PTI that Rahul Dravid was aware of Chappell’s alleged tactics but could not control the Australian coach. “I lost my captaincy in 2005 November-December and World Cup was in early 2007,” Ganguly said. "Rahul became the captain. And in another eight months’ time, he needed another captain (in Sachin)."

Harbhajan Singh, a senior off-spinner, told PTI that Chappell "destroyed Indian cricket to such an extent that it required at least three years to get back on track”.  He said, “Some people thought just blindly following Chappell would do them a world of good without realising that Indian cricket was going nowhere.” In addition to him, Harbhajan Singh alleged, Chappell targeted Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan.

VVS Laxman told the media that Chappell sowed divisions in the team, making 2006 one of the toughest periods in Indian cricket history.

Rahul quiet, Chappell denies

Caught unwittingly in the middle of the controversy, Dravid chose to remain mum. He just told ESPNCricinfo: “I have not really read the excerpts of that book. Also, I am not privy to any private conversation between two individuals. I have not heard about this before and I have no idea what happened and I would not want to make any comment.”

Chappell, shaken up by Tendulkar’s allegations, issued a stern denial. In a statement released by Cricket Australia, he said, “Whilst I do not 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.”

Here is how Twitter reacted to the saga