India, Oct. 28 -- One of the striking features of the Indian cricket teams of the last nearly a decade has been the camaraderie between the coach and players. From Rahul Shastri to Rahul Dravid and now Gautam Gambhir, the bond between the head coach and Indian cricketers has played a huge role in maintaining a positive environment in the dressing room. But the same was not always the case. And no, we are not just talking about the Greg Chappell era.

In one of the most dramatic off-field episodes in Indian cricket's modern history, members of the team reportedly stopped speaking to then-head coach Madan Lal for several days during the 1997 tour of Sri Lanka, following an explosive newspaper interview in which he publicly criticised severa...