Former India coach Greg Chappell has backed former ICC match referee Chris Broad’s revelation that late BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya had offered to reduce Sourav Ganguly’s suspension for over-rate offences to ensure his availability for an upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Broad claimed that a “powerful figure” had tried to influence the decision regarding Ganguly’s ban during India’s 2005 series against Pakistan.

He revealed that he received direct instructions from higher authorities not to impose further sanctions on the then-India captain. Now, speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell has confirmed Broad’s statement, revealing that Dalmiya indeed approached him with an offer to “organise” something to make Ganguly available for the Sri Lanka tour.

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“Dalmiya offered to have his suspension reduced so that he (Ganguly) could go to Sri Lanka at the start of my tenure,” Greg Chappell said. “I said no, I don’t want to rort the system — he has to do his time. Dalmiya seemed okay for him to miss.”

Ganguly’s troubles with over-rate penalties began after the third ODI between India and Pakistan in Jamshedpur in April 2005, where Broad fined him for a slow over-rate. Later in the same series, the Indian skipper was handed a six-game suspension for a repeat offence, which was later reduced to four matches on appeal.

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By September 2005, Ganguly was again penalised by the match referee Clive Lloyd, receiving a two-match ban for another over-rate violation — his second in a year. Around that time, Greg Chappell had taken over as India’s head coach, marking the beginning of one of Indian cricket’s most controversial coach-captain relationships.

According to reports, both the BCCI and ICC were contacted for official comments on Broad’s allegations, while Cricket Australia redirected inquiries to the ICC.