Cricket: John Wright will be Indian coach

Former New Zealand cricket captain John Wright has been appointed coach of India, an Indian newspaper, quoting highly placed sources, reported yesterday.

Wright was to take up his two-year appointment from November 1 and had the support of India's senior players such as captain Saurav Ganguly, vice-captain Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, the Deccan Chronicle said.

Wright's first task was to prepare the team for a one-off test against Bangladesh early next month.

India's stop-gap coach, Anshuman Gaekwad, who guided the team to a runner-up finish behind New Zealand in the ICC Trophy, would be Wright's understudy.

The paper said Wright had got the thumbs up from the senior players when they met the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, A. C. Muttiah, in Nairobi.

Ganguly, while playing for Lancashire this season, had even spoken about the position with Wright, the paper said. With Wright's position "almost confirmed," the board has stopped holding interviews for the coach's post.

Former Australian coach Geoff Marsh, a leading contender, pulled out from the race because his wife was not eager to go to India. Other candidates were Australians Greg Chappell and Dean Jones.

Wright, aged 44, New Zealand's second-highest run-scorer in tests, has been coach of the English county side Kent for the past three years. The county's overseas professional is Dravid.

- NZPA