Wright was ideal India coach, he gave players free-hand unlike Chappell, Kumble

The 1983 World Cupwinning Team India player Sandeep Patil feels that John Wrights approach of giving a free hand to players led to his successful coaching stint with India which his successors Anil Kumble and Greg Chappell failed to reproduceIn his autobiography Beyond Boundaries launched on Wednesday Sandeep Patil has given deep insights about the reason behind John Wrights success as Indias coach versus that of Chappell and Kumble The book has been coauthored by MidDays senior journalist Clayton MurzelloPatil was privy to several developments of the tumultuous Chappell era as he used to attend selection and board meetings in his capacity as the then India A coach Since 2000 India have had an array of international coaches and support staff This has paid rich dividends because Indias overseas record has improved steadily It all started with John Wright becoming Indias first foreign coach I think John was the ideal coach for India He was soft spoken polite wellmannered always kept to himself and was happy to be in Sourav Gangulys shadow In addition to all that he kept a distance from the Press He managed that so well that he was hardly in the news unlike what happened in the Greg Chappell years Sandeep Patil wrote in his bookAlso ReadIND vs SA 1st T20I Team India eye positive start in DurbanWith Chappell he was in the news every day It is very important for a coach to first understand the policy of that particular board the thinking of the board members and the President He should have a good rapport with the President and the Secretary and of course the captain and the team John did that wonderfully Patil observed that every player was equal and the team came first for Wright during his tenure there was no seniors and juniors business It was one team He believed all seniors were leaders in some way He gave them respect and a free hand which l feel Anil Kumble didnt do Greg Chappell too he wroteFurther Sandeep Patil stated that Greg Chappells aggressive approach did not suit Team Indias dressing roomGreg is a very strong personality very aggressive The moment Jagmohan Dalmiya said you have a free hand he thought that he can change everything overnight John waited and learnt the system Greg wanted to change the entire system the entire thinking and the selection process Patil elaboratedHe introduced flexibility in the Indian team and he spoiled things for Rahul Dravid who took over from Ganguly as captain Irfan Pathan was asked to move up the order Seniors dont like to change numbers whether it is Sachin Tendulkar Dravid or Virender SehwagThe other issue in the Greg Chappell saga was the presence of Ian Fraser as Assistant Coach Most players didnt like his presence Patil said Chappell was in a hurry to introduce the Australian culture in the Indian system Greg wanted to introduce the Australian culture the Australian way of playing cricket and the Australian way of thinking He couldve done it but he didnt bide his time Thats where I think the rift started and he was against a few seniors who were not toeing the lineSourav is not a guy who will get up and start running and doing stretches You need to give him time I think Greg rubbed seniors the wrong way though a few seniors didnt speak openly about him some like Kumble still havent Its the same with Dravid Ironically Ganguly got him in but was instrumental in his exit he wroteSandeep Patil in his book wrote that Gary Kirsten turned out to be the most successful Indian coach because of his closeness with the playersGary Kirsten was very successful you could say most successful because his squad won the 2011 World Cup Gary again was wellrespected and softspoken He had played against the same players and got runs This counts in a way Having played in India he knew what to expect He also stayed away from the Press and gave all his 24 hours to the team he wroteWith PTI Inputs