Wright dismisses ICC idea of Day-Night Tests

Indore: Former India coach John Wright on Friday disapproved the ICC initiative to host day/night Test matches, saying the purists like to play under the sunlight.

Promoting the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) as its Brand Ambassador here, Wright who coached team India from 2000 to 2005, said the day-night Tests were meant to benefit television. "As a cricketer, I am a traditionalist and like to play under sunlight. The idea might attract lot of crowd but then I do not like it," Wright said. Revealing about his association as a coach with Team India for five-long years, the former opener said, "That was a fantastic time. We saw rise of Indian cricket during this period. We had bunch of experienced cricketers like Sachin (Tendulkar), Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Kaif." "They all were passionate about working together and the desire to become world`s number one Test team and that was the reason we achieved our goal," he said. On Duncan Fletcher as coach, he said that he should be given some time before any assessment of his work. "When BCCI assigned coaching responsibility to me, in the beginning we couldn’t get result, but once we got the combination and selection correct, we started getting results." Talking about three different captains for different formats, Wright said, "Different players suit different formats of play and that is good. But if the current captain is suitable for all formats, then I do not feel any need for having separate captains." When asked whether more preference was being given to Twenty20 cricket at the cost of traditional form of cricket, Wright said that it is important to strike the correct balance between longer, shorter and shortest version of game. "I think that is a challenge for the administrators of the game to get the balance right because there is a solid majority of true cricket lovers who enjoy the longer form of the game, and then it’s got to be balanced," Wright said. About India’s home series against England, Wright said the home team were the clear favourites. "India at home are tough because they know the conditions. It’s hot and they’ve got some very good players," he observed. Wright also stated that England too were a very talented unit and a balanced side even after they lost Andrew Strauss. Backing Sachin Tendulkar, he said the ace batsman has the ability to deliver the goods at the highest stage of the game and he would regain his form very soon. "Tendulkar is considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all times, having scored more than 33,000 runs in international cricket, with the help of 100 centuries and for him it’s just matter of few good innings to get back his form," Wright said. When asked as to who would replace Tendulkar when he retires, Wright merely said, "only time will tell". PTI