Kiwis stand up for their Wright

Indian coach John Wright is a man in the spotlight here. And notall of it is about his disappointment at India''s "surprisingly" poorperformance. There''s speculation that the former New Zealand opener will takeover the reins of the Black Caps after his contract with the Indian teamexpires. The New Zealand media believes Wright, a “toughie� inhis playing days and now a coach of repute due to his success with the Indianteam, is the logical successor to coach Denis Aberhart. Wright''s contract withIndia expires shortly after the World Cup and the local media believes that heis looking to return to New Zealand at the completion of his two-year term."I have not received any such communication from New Zealand Cricket norhave I approached them," he said. "And I don''t think they will really approachme in the near future after our performance here in New Zealand," he laughed.Getting more serious on the subject, Wright said: "My complete focus is onthe World Cup and I am not looking beyond that. We (India) are a proudcricketing nation and I want to make them even prouder by doing well at theWorld Cup and hopefully winning it," he added. But asked what he would doafter his contract expires — stay with India or come back to New Zealand— Wright said: "The chances of anyone retaining his job depends upon hissuccess at his present job." And Wright said the measure of his success would beIndia''s performance at the World Cup. "If I do well at the World Cup, theIndians will retain me. If I don''t, I don''t think I will be asked to continue,"he said bluntly. The New Zealanders are, however, hoping that Wright wouldbe interested in putting his name forward when the job for the Black Caps'' coachis next advertised. New Zealand Cricket (NZC), however, has no immediate plansof approaching Wright as it would be "improper" to approach him during his stayin New Zealand.