Dropping a bombshell, Sachin Tendulkar has disclosed that the then India coach Greg Chappell had made a "shocking" suggestion to him to take over India's captaincy from Rahul Dravid months before the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. "Together, we could control Indian cricket for years", the Australian told Tendulkar during a visit to his home when he offered to "help me in taking over the reins of the side" from Dravid, the master batsman writes in his autobiography "Playing it My Way" due for release on Thursday. Tendulkar is scathing in his criticism of Chappell who was the national coach from 2005 to 2007, describing him as a "ringmaster who imposed his ideas on the players without showing any signs of being concerned about whether they felt comfortable or not". Elaborating on the coach's bid to replace Dravid, Tendulkar writes, "Just months before the World Cup, Chappell had come to see me at home and, to my dismay, suggested that I should take over the captaincy from Rahul Dravid. "Anjali (Tendulkar's wife), who was sitting with me was equally shocked to hear him say that 'together, we could control Indian cricket for years', and that he would help me in taking over the reins of the side. "I was surprised to hear the coach not showing the slightest amount of respect for the captain, with cricket's biggest tournament just months away", Tendulkar writes. He says that he had rejected Chappell's proposition outright. "He stayed for a couple of hours, trying to convince me before finally leaving".
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq equalled Viv Richards' record for the fastest century in Test cricket as his side set Australia an unlikely 603 to win the second Test in Abu Dhabi.
