ONE THING is sure: Greg Chappell, after having written his hard-hitting and in-your-face autobiography 'Fierce Focus', will have to think real hard before he decides to land anywhere in West Bengal. He's likely to face the same cold reception that Scottish match referee Mike Denness would have faced in Mumbai after accusing Sachin Tendulkar of ball tampering in that great Test Match against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in November 2001 - had he decided to venture to the sub-continent.

The ‘fierce’ focus on Indian cricket personalities in the book, is unlikely to be taken kindly by some of them – especially Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly, as per Chappell, was part of the divisive and hierarchical power structure within the cricket team and administrative set up, reported PTI. Such was the terror amongst juniors of this system that it took the raw talent and confidence of MS Dhoni to break barriers created by senior players like Ganguly.

The Aussie does not paint a glorious picture of Ganguly who, in patches, performed gallantly for India. Most of the time, especially when he was captain, Ganguly was wracked by the instinct to survive as captain and often turned to Chappel – especially when the southpaw was the one who supported Chappell’s candidature as coach.

"His idea was probably 'you scratch my back, I scratch yours'," Chappell wrote. "He expected I would be so grateful to him for getting me the job that I'd become his henchman in his battle to remain captain. I, on the other hand, took on a job with the primary responsibility to Indian cricket and the Indian people. There were a billion of them and only one of Sourav. I wanted to help India become the best cricket team in the world," said Chappell in his book. Chappell said on field, "there was no bigger panicker than Sourav." He described Ganguly as a player "caught with self-doubt and his own struggle to survive".

In his book, Chappell also alleged that Ganguly faked an injury and walked off after four overs in a Test match against Zimbabwe. "He was retiring hurt, yet he appeared to have no injury. I suggested he go for an MRI scan, but he declined. I'd seen a lot of excuses over my years from guys who didn't want to bat in difficult conditions, but normally they were more subtle than this," he wrote. "He, in my view, was simply frightened of a failure before the test series," he said.

When Chappell questioned other players, he was told jokingly that, “…he had a miracle doctor in Kolkata, because his serious injuries always cleared up when he went home."

With a flurry of revelations coming out regarding Indian players by former cricketers, one can’t wait to read what the Prince of Calcutta would have to say in his own autobiography – that is, if he does not panic while deciding to writing one.