Coach Wrightfully deserves more

Never mind the rupee getting stronger vis-a-vis the dollar, the Board of Control for Cricket in India must retain John Wright as coach for the national team. Considering the performances of the Indian team in the last couple of years, I dare say, the man deserves a handsome bonus too.
The last year, in fact, has been spectacular: a place in the World Cup final, a drawn series against world champions Australia, and more recently an emphatic victory over Pakistan in what was arguably India''s toughest tour ever.If this trend continues, India cricket may well be entering its Golden Age, and while the players have obviously played a huge part, the role of the coach cannot be undermined.
I say this with some amount of repentance, because I was not entirely convinced of Wright''s bonafides when he was assigned this role. Indian cricket was in a moribund state then, neither going forward nor backward, and needing a kick-start which the reticent-to-a-fault New Zealander seemed unlikely to provide. How wrong that perception was! Over the last few years Wright has proved that to be a good coach, you don''t have necessarily have to be a great player.
Where has he made a difference? Wright''s biggest contribution to Indian cricket, I believe, has been in establishing a professional work ethic. The Indian team had always been the habitat of superstars and prima donnas who defined their own work and role, sometimes at the cost of the team.
Wright has changed that dramatically. Superstars exist, but prima donnas are rare. It has taken him some time, but he has been able to convince the players that modern cricket makes extraordinary demands on talent, time and temperament, and unless they were prepared to work had, success would be fleeting.
This seems easy in theory, but can be extremely difficult in practice, given that human nature is fickle, fragile and inconsistent. But Wright has been able to manage his wards superbly because he does not compete with them. Some coaches have a propensity to try and be bigger than the current players. In Wright''s case, he is clear that the players are the stars, not him. In this situation, being a foreigner helped. He came with no baggage, had no favourites only a job to do.
That selflessness has endeared him to the team and more importantly changed the culture in the dressing room which has helped the team rise from a state of limbo into world beaters. But there are still more horizons to conquer.
There is Australia to beat this winter, and the 2007 World Cup to win. To keep Wright out of these would be just not right.