It is now two years since John Geoffrey Wright took over as thefirst foreign coach of the Indian team
Partab Ramchand18-Nov-2002It is now two years since John Geoffrey Wright took over as thefirst foreign coach of the Indian team. The inaugural Testagainst Bangladesh in Dhaka in November 2000 was AnshumanGaekwad’s last assignment in the stop-gap arrangement followingKapil Dev’s resignation and when the team came back to take onZimbabwe at home, Wright was in charge.
© CricInfoHas Wright been given enough credit for India’s improved showingsince then? I don’t think so. The focus has generally been on thecaptain Sourav Ganguly, stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravidand Anil Kumble and the talented and dynamic young players whohave made their presence felt strongly in the last couple ofyears. Indeed, Wright’s taking over has virtually coincided withGanguly taking over as captain, the resurgence of Harbhajan Singhand VVS Laxman and the emergence of players like Zaheer Khan,Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.As a player, Wright was a no-nonsense cricketer who putefficiency above flair and served the cause of New Zealandcricket admirably in the period 1977-1992. His figures of 82Tests, 5334 runs, 12 hundreds, highest score 185, average 37.82aptly convey his approach to the game. It is interesting to notethat he had a particular good record against India, notching upthree Test hundreds against them. His aggregate and number ofhundreds were a record till the more gifted Martin Crowesurpassed them.During his long career as opening batsman and captain, Wright wasa deep thinker of the game. A hardcore theoretician, he used toanalyse various aspects of the game from all angles and broughtthis systematic approach to his successful tenure as coach of theKent team in the English county championship. There was no reasonto believe that he would change the attitude when he took over ascoach of the Indian team.Two things must never be forgotten. One, Wright earned the job inthe face of competition from some big names in the game.Secondly, when he took over, there was resentment in somequarters. After all, an Indian had always been the coach of thenational squad and questions were openly asked about hiscredentials for the job. It is to Wright’s credit that hesurmounted this initial problem with his inimitable qualities – asoft-spoken, direct, no-nonsense approach together with histrademark impeccable behaviour that could not fail to winadmiration (After all, did not Wisden editor Matthew Engel noteon Wright’s retirement that he had `the most beautiful manners ofhis generation’?).Soon, Wright won over his detractors by producing results. Afterall, that’s the first aspect anyone looks at when it comes toanalysing a captain, manager or coach. Let us then take a quicklook at the overall record of the Indian team since November2000.India has played 29 Tests, won 12, lost nine and drawn eight.While the long awaited overseas series victory has still provedto be elusive, the team has registered four away wins inZimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. A shared series inEngland, where India have won only two and lost 11 such contests,is a record not to be scoffed at.In addition, there is the unforgettable NatWest Trophy triumphthat would figure in anyone’s list just behind the World Cup winin 1983 and the World Championship of Cricket victory two yearslater, as well as the sharing of the ICC Champions Trophy withSri Lanka. Over and above everything, the list of achievements isheaded by inarguably India’s greatest triumph in a home Testseries against the all-conquering Australians last year.Yes, there have been reverses. The failure to clinch a seriesvictory in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, the defeat in the West Indiesthis year and the 2-0 loss in South Africa last year. But itlooks like the irritating habit of faltering at the final hurdlein one-day competitions is a thing of the past as events in theNatWest Trophy and the Champions Trophy have proved. Also, Wrighthas been responsible for making the Indians mentally tougher andfor instilling a sense of self-belief in them.Overall, there has been an undoubted upswing in the fortunes ofIndian cricket over the last two years. Sure, there is room forimprovement still, notably in matters of ground fielding,catching and running between wickets. But these are inherentweaknesses that will not go away overnight. In any case, it isgood to know that Wright will be around till at least the WorldCup and that is a comforting thought.How much credit then does Wright deserve for all theachievements? In my opinion, quite a bit, though, he has not beengiven the accolades he deserves. The 48-year-old affable Indiancoach and his laptop are now a familiar sight at cricket groundsall over the world. He is obviously a deep thinker of the finerpoints of the game. Most important, he has struck an excellentworking relationship with Ganguly and Dravid.If Wright is a hardcore theoretician, Ganguly can be prettyintuitive. Emotional by nature, Ganguly’s bowling changes andfield placements can be pretty puzzling at times and one is surethat the steadying hand of Wright is a sobering influence. If onthe field Dravid provides the picture of calm, off the field itis Wright who is the symbol of equanimity. The trio make for anexemplary think tank and the players are in good hands with sucha team management.One is sure that Wright has had a major hand in the recentexperiments being carried out in the team composition. He isaware that while the Indian side is a very good one, there arestill certain lacunae that have to be plugged if it is to emergeas a serious challenger for the World Cup. To that extent he iswilling to try out various combinations and permutations that hehopes will benefit the team in the long run. Keep up the goodwork, Mr `Right’ and more strength to your think pad!