Once again Chappell has become embroiled in a ‘he said, she said’ argument after extracts from a book by Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar were published, suggesting Chappell – the Indian coach from 2005 to 2007 - was actively working to remove Rahul Dravid as captain and install Tendulkar in his place.
“Just months before the (2007) 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," said Tendulkar in an extract from the soon-to-be-released Playing It My Way.
"(My wife) Anjali, 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. He stayed for a couple of hours, trying to convince me, before finally leaving."
Chappell, now a national talent manager with Cricket Australia, used the organisation’s website to hit back at Tendulkar’s claims on Wednesday.
“The claims made in Sachin's new book were brought to my attention earlier today," said Chappell
"Whilst I don't 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. During those years, I only ever visited Sachin’s home once, and that was with our physio and assistant coach during Sachin’s rehabilitation from injury, at least 12 months earlier than what was reported in the book.
"We enjoyed a pleasant afternoon together but the subject of captaincy was never raised."
During his period in charge of India, Chappell was famous for several high-profile personality clashes, most notably with former skipper Sourav Ganguly. His time at the helm finished in April 2007 after the Indians meekly dropped out of the troubled World Cup in the Caribbean, despite being one the favourites.
It certainly not the first time Chappell has been embroiled in this type of tit-for-tat commentary, the former Aussie skipper finding himself in a war of words with the most unlikely person of all time - Mike Hussey - after reportedly telling the man known as Mr. Cricket to retire in early 2011 despite Hussey being Australia’s highest run scorer during the 2010-11 Ashes series.
Then in his role as an Australian selector, Chappell reportedly met with Hussey and urged him to consider retirement despite the star left-hander having made a successful recovery from a serious hamstring injury as he looked to pursue a place in the Aussie’s World Cup squad that year.
Chappell was later banned from the Australian dressing room during 2011, although it’s uncertain whether his treatment of Hussey, which has never been confirmed by the former batsman, played a role in this.
As Australian skipper, Chappell also presided over the most infamous moment in Australian cricket when he instructed his brother Trevor to bowl an underarm delivery that prevented New Zealand from winning a one-day international clash during the 1980-81 summer.