Wright rests the ‘May’ issue: ‘Not going now’

‘‘Well fielded Bhajji,’’ he shouted as there seemed a sense of purpose and quite uncharacteristically Wright was being heard.

About time as well, for there has been far too much speculation about his future and too many theories being floated.

But today after three hours at the Nehru Stadium here all that speculation should cease to exist.

Perhaps, it had something to do with the ‘‘empty feeling’’ that Wright spoke of after the last day in Bangalore Test which hurt the team and more importantly the Indian coach himself.

As India attempt from April 2 to undo the wrongs of their one-day form of game gathered since the World Cup in 2003 this focus of Wright would certainly help.

And they have 11 games on hand running through the whole of April and May to see if it has actually worked out.

Reiterating what he had told The Indian Express at the end of the Test tour of Bangladesh, Wright insisted that he is very much in the job till the Sri Lanka one-day series.

‘‘As I had said two months back, I am contractually obliged till the end of May and I am definitely here,’’ said Wright with a smile.

Not one to ever state himself overtly, Wright continues to pick and choose his words, saying a lot despite never quite hitting the point. This could be seen in the way he stated reasons supporting VVS Laxman’s presence in one-day side, without ever stating it with full authority.

‘‘He (Laxman) made five hundreds in one-day cricket last year. And helped us win in Pakistan, his fielding has improved. If anything he is best placed to bat at No 3 position,’’ said Wright.

If anything Wright could be faulted on this count for he has never made his mind known though today he dropped huge hints about him disliking Laxman’s exclusion.

‘‘I know he is disappointed. And he maybe right, for in one-day cricket apart from fielding and running between the wickets is needed upto a point. If you look closely most one-day sides have their best batsmen playing both forms of the game,’’ said Wright insisting Laxman is still in the ‘‘one-day mix of things’’.

But Laxman is not here but from among those chosen except skipper Sourav Ganguly and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni everyone else were very much present.

Though Dhoni did receive some support from the coach who rated the player very highly saying the Jharkhand wicket-keeper will certainly add a new dimension to India’s one-day game.

The remaining 12 players though did spend quite some time gathering breath owing to sultry conditions which was taking a lot out of them. Wright spent a lot of time talking to Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif. In fact, Wright took Kaif aside and spent about 20 minutes with him separately considering the UP skipper’s value to the Indian one-day side.

By the end of it all, Wright was back at the epicentre of all activity as he gave his famous huddle talk at the end of the training session.

The bottom line he told his boys, ‘‘this is a must-win series,’’ after the opportunities slipped by during the Test series.