Tags:
Journalism of Courage
There are few in world cricket who can match John Wright8217;s manners. But there are those who doubt the Indian cricket team coach8217;s judgement, his vision.
Javagal Srinath, for example, has asked Wright to recalibrate his game plan. 8216;8216;With the progress of time8217;8217;, Srinath wrote, 8216;8216;all his Wright8217;s so-called great ideas definitely need a second look. Micro management of the team was his strength. Under the present circumstances I am afraid to say it could prove to be a hindrance.8217;8217;
When asked for a reaction, Wright 8212; dual airbags under his eyes 8212; revealed a wry smile and said, 8216;8216;I have no problems. It8217;s part of the roll. I haven8217;t spoken to Srinath about this. I have coached him and I know him well and respect him.8217;8217;
With the smile morphing into a laugh he added, 8216;8216;I am pleased to hear that he is making good progress in writing interesting columns.8217;8217;
Over the past few days, this writer has spoken to several Indian cricketers, on and off the record, about Wright8217;s contribution to the side. It showed one thing: he may not very completely popular with each member of the team but he commands the respect of every one of them.
A successful leader needs to be respected not popular.
Wright is a man who has weathered several campaigns which have inevitably questioned his style of functioning. His enigmatic yet healthy relationship with skipper Sourav Ganguly has the potential of becoming a best-seller. But that does not bother him anymore as he continues to sand the rough edges of his players8217; games.
8216;8216;I8217;m just doing my role as coach. A lot of views have been expressed about me. They come from all areas and that goes with the job. If you are not winning, people will have their ideas about what should be done to make the team win. I believe that whatever is good for the team should be done.8217;8217;
He is clear on one thing, though: 8216;8216;If the BCCI working committee is listening to these people then you wouldn8217;t be interviewing me.8217;8217;
Wright8217;s constant endeavour has been to try and get the team to the next level. 8216;8216;We had a good last season where we improved as Test team. In one-dayers we haven8217;t done well but if I can8217;t achieve that someone else can have a turn8217;8217;, he says, measuring his words with throbbing precision.
Wright believes that success can get in the way of performances. 8216;8216;It8217;s easier to jump into a comfort zone. We have rediscovered our hunger with the Lord8217;s win. Winning is what you play for. As I said I was very pleased with the hunger of the boys. We have to hang in there and keep building our confidence. That8217;s what the senior players are here for.8217;8217;
He admits that there is ample scope for achieving constancy in the batting order and that is something that he will be talking to Ganguly about. 8216;8216;It8217;s always a lot easier when you are winning. I8217;ve been pleased with the team8217;s attitude and work ethic even when they were losing. If our batting comes right other things fall into place.8217;8217;
Wright is confident that he will get the batting failures sorted out. 8216;8216;We8217;ve been there before and that helps. We will get the form back.8217;8217;
You can probably question his judgement but you cannot doubt his intent.
