Wright makes a bold opening statement

‘‘That is definitely an option that should be discovered,’’ said the Indian coach. The former New Zealand batsman’s gestures speak louder than words. And the emphasis on those words made each syllable stand apart at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, framed apart from the Punjabi tunes rocking the empty stadium.

Remember, he went on, the first two hours of any opening partnership is very important. It was the key to India’s success in Australia. ‘‘Anyone can have two failures in a Test match opening an innings.’’ And since Wright is evidently a man who prefers to disclose important points as questions, he asked, what was the opening partnership in the first Test? Ah, 160. Significant look.

Nonetheless, the Indian camp is organising brainstorming sessions at a pace that would exhaust the sturdiest of track two diplomats. Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, manager Ratnakar Shetty and Wright himself are to meet tonight to gaze into some crystal ball and determine who should take first strike against Shoaib Akhtar on Tuesday (that valiant job has thus far been rendered by Chopra). ‘‘All I can tell you is that it will either be a left hander or a right hander,’’ smiled Wright.

Chances are, his question may not change on the morrow. It is strange enough that so much energy has been burnt up on deciding this issue. If India do actually give themselves a deadline and say, this is it, this is what we are going to do, never mind that the third Test is still more than 24 hours away, they will give their supporters something to cheer about. But don’t count on it.

Other changes too could be in the offing. Wright says it is a toss-up between taking the Rawalpindi field with two pacers plus two spinners or three plus one. Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathy Balaji are certain. But he said, ‘‘If we bat first, we may go in with two spinners.’’

Rawalpindi will decide the series. In case Pakistan win, they would not only take the rubber, but also retain the number three slot in the ICC Test rankings. For India it is a battle against history and form. They are acutely conscious that far too often they have taken the lead in a series only to squander it subsequently.

‘‘This has happened in away Tests,’’ clarifies Wright. But also remember, he demands, that after taking those leads India have inevitably turned up at a wicket that favours fast bowling a little more. It happened at Barbados, it happened at Harare, it could even be said to have happened at Melbourne. Still, he argues, the bottomline is stark: in the first innings India did not put up a fighting total.

‘‘Both sides are desperate to win,’’ he reckons. ‘‘The key for us will be our first innings batting performance. Little things can turn a game, like Dravid’s runout (in Lahore). There is not much between these teams.’’

The real issue, as Wright offered earlier, is ‘‘to sort out our batting positions’’. He said an opener’s job is not an easy one, he must want to be out there. Even ‘Viru’, he went on, sees himself in his mind as a middle-order player.

The final call will be the skippers’, finished Wright. Everyone must give his opinion, but a good captain will then grab the gauntlet and say, this is my choice.