Admitting that he did have occasional differences with Sourav Ganguly [Images], former Team India coach John Wright [Images] dismissed Raj Singh Dungarpur's claims that he was frustrated with the former Indian captain and wanted to get rid of him.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, Wright refused to attach importance to the allegations of Dungarpur, the manager of the Indian team touring Pakistan, and said, "Raj is a good friend of mine. He is a colourful man and is sometimes prone to saying colourful statements. I saw the news briefly on the Internet. I looked at it and said, 'Goodness gracious what is happening.'."

On his relationship with Ganguly, he said, "I would not say that Sourav and I agreed completely on all issues. But the disagreements happen. I have always believed that the captain is in-charge of the cricket team. My job as the coach was to make him a good captain.

"Sourav would have frustrations with me and with him. Bottom line is, Sourav is captain and my job was to go out and get the job done. The same is the case with Greg (Chappell) and Rahul (Dravid). There will be times when Greg and Rahul will disagree on issues."

Elaborating, the former Kiwi captain said though Ganguly and he came from different schools and backgrounds, both worked towards a common goal.

He heaped praise on the southpaw, saying, "I think the legacy that Sourav wanted to leave behind is that of a team where there was no difference between the senior and junior players. He fought very hard for some of the youngsters in the selection meetings. As far as Sourav and I are concerned we were in the same boat."

He also refused to subscribe to Dungarpur's allegation that Ganguly was the laziest fielder around.

"That is Raj's opinion. I am not involved in that thought process. There were times when I could single out Ganguly and there were times when the same could have been said of (Javagal) Srinath or (Anil) Kumble."

On whether Ganguly feigned injury, Wright said, "I don't think it is fair. A lot has been said about Sourav and his career. I think the bottom line is that Sourav captained India to more wins than any captain before him and I hope that Rahul is the person who will break that record."

He also refuted the claim that he is a 'mild' coach.

"I don't think I was mild. My conversations happen in private and if people outside the organisation feel I was mild then it is really their business. Coaching for me was always low presence and high impact. I always say, 'Go ask the players if they think I was mild.'. I did reprimand the players when it was required. It was part of the job. Players used to get angry with me for scolding them, but I'm not going to tell you much about this."

Wright did not read much in the Ganguly-Dravid 'spat' before the Lahore [Images] Test either.

"I have never read too much into these things. Sports teams are interesting animals. There are bound to be disagreements, internal conflicts at certain stages. After all, you have strong people playing sports. You would want that sort of toughness."

He also felt that either captain or the coach should have voting rights and India should follow the Australian model of having paid, professional selectors.

"Selection in India is a tough job because of the system of being voted in and out every year. I would prefer it if professionals were appointed and paid as is the case in Australia, New Zealand [Images] and elsewhere too... I think the captain or the coach, at least one of them, should have a vote."

Though he described the BCCI as a political beast, Wright said there was never any direct pressure to include any player.

"I got along fine with the BCCI bosses. I never got involved in their politics. There was never direct pressure in the selection process although I did not have a vote in it."

On the team's declining show towards the end of his tenure, he felt the side had become complacent.

"Success is a bit of an enemy in itself. Perhaps we were a bit complacent after the Pakistan series. We had three months off. We went immediately into the World Cup. People were not talking about whether we would win the trophy but by how much. The fact was we hadn't played for three months. We should have had a longer camp and more match practice. We lacked energy and hunger," he said.