The Wright view

Faisal Shariff

I have two questions," he says. And I thought I'd gone there to ask him a few!

I am with India's cricket coach, John Geoffrey Wright, at the poolside restaurant at the Cricket Club of India just minutes after the Indian squad for the ODI leg of the South Africa tour was announced.

"Who do you think missed out?" he asks.

And when I answer, he goes on: "Who do you think was lucky to make it?"

He listens to the answers, but his expression gives nothing away.

His expression never does, anyway!

When he talks, it is similarly minimalistic; to the point. Unlike the nation at large, Wright doesn't see V V S Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar as the answer to India's problems; he does not believe their absence was what made the difference in Sri Lanka.

"We didn't take our catches, we didn't put up enough runs on the board; we had inexcusable run-outs at crucial times, we bowled a bad line. We lost because we deserved to lose," he says.

The statement is delivered flat; no accusatory tone, no self-defence, no nothing. Just this is it; take it or leave it!

"When I said that we deserved to lose, I wasn't being bitter or frustrated," he says. "The trouble is that all these years people have not told this team what it needed to be told. For me, it is important to be honest, to face up to your mistakes in order to learn from them, to correct them."

That has, in fact, been his way -- everyone says one thing, he says another.

Remember the euphoria when India beat Australia 2-1 earlier this year? The corner has been turned, we said. Indian cricket is alive and kicking serious butt.

"I wouldn't get too excited about the result." That was Wright at the time, the lone voice of dissent. I heard him say that, and, frankly, I was in no mood to have someone -- not even the coach -- cast a dampener on the prevailing enthusiasm.

A drawn series in Zimbabwe, and defeat in Sri Lanka, have dimmed that enthusiasm. And in the process, put Wright's caution in perspective.

The funny thing about Wright, though, is that he is always the first to defend his team. Thus, when I ask him why the team fails to deliver time and again, he jumps on the question with both feet.

We beat Australia, we halted their winning streak, the win against Zimbabwe was the first in 15 years away from home, the comeback, both in the triangular ODIs and in the Test series in India, cannot be wished away either, he points out.

And then makes his point: It is not that this team does not deliver; it is merely that the delivery is inconsistent, not sustained.

That's Wright -- in every cloud, he sees a silver lining; in every win, he sights the cracks and sounds the voice of caution.

"I think," he says, sprinkling pepper on his soup, "that the real problem is the team needs to be focussed and disciplined about its practice, about the basics. And yes, the standards of fitness have to improve overall."

Dissecting the Sri Lankan tour, Wright believes that the team lost the first Test on day one by giving away crucial wickets and failing to reach a competitive score. "And then, on day two, we bowled the worst I have seen any side bowl," he adds.

The second Test, he says, was a great display of team character: good disciplined bowling, steady batting, standout performances by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in scripting the successful chase...

But then, he says, another disastrous first day, in the third Test, undid all the hard work -- and things went steadily to pieces after that.

"If you have three run-outs in a match you are trying to save, then you have a huge problem," he points out. "I reckon even though we played the first day badly, and gave lives to their batsmen and let them pile up a big score, we could have easily drawn the last Test after the fantastic opening partnership."

His sole mantra is effort. "I get most upset when I think anyone lacks effort. I look for effort on the field. Look, no one tries to bowl a bad ball, no one wants to drop a catch and no one wants to get out. Making the mistake is not the real problem, the real problem is when you don't put all you've got behind the line, for the team."

And yet, being who he is, he shifts immediately to the positive, reckons up on his fingers the gains from the tour. And he makes no bones that he thinks the opening partnership is the biggest gain.

Ramesh, says Wright, can be as good as he wants to be. "He is a beautiful timer of the ball, leaves the ball well, plays the short ball well and is immensely gifted. His only problem is to be more critical of his scoring shots. It really is up to him. He is a very special boy."

And S S Das, he adds, is correct, compact, puts a price on his wicket, and shows an inclination to stay out there and not get hurried.

On the subject of Harbhajan, too, Wright has his own point of view. "There's a lot of pressure on him to perform an encore of his deeds against Australia, each time he bowls," Wright points out. "And that is unrealistic."

"Let's face it, the Lankans play spin better than the Aussies. Also, we didn't put up enough runs on the board, with the result that time and again he had to go on the defensive."

One thing he won't do, though, is make excuses. Such as, that the Kokkaburra ball is something the Indian bowlers were unused to.

"That is nonsense," he says, dismissively. "We have been using the Kookaburra balls even during the Zimbabwe tour, and it is totally incorrect to say there was a problem with the balls. In fact, I had given Harbhajan Kookaburra balls to take home with him, for practice."

It all brings us to the big question -- South Africa, the second toughest series going, given that barring Australia, no country has won a Test series there since the Proteas re-entered the cricketing fold.

"South Africa are definitely a stronger team than us; they are the second best team in the world. The conditions will be completely different from India. It is a huge test," says the coach.

But then, the real personality of the man emerges. "No doubt the odds are stacked against us, but let's look the other way. What a great challenge! What an opportunity to test the limits of our own skills!"

And then he left, after a glance at his watch, that reminded him of his next appointment.

Yesterday, I saw the news: Hemang Badani to replace Laxman. And I thought back of our chat.

When he asked me who I thought was unlucky to miss out, it was Badani's name I had picked.

And as it turned out, it was Badani's name the coach brought up in the selection meeting, and it was the turning down of Badani by the national selectors that was his one sore spot.

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"I wouldn't get too excited about the result." - John Geoffrey Wright