Bengaluru: During his tenure as the Indian head coach, John Wright has seen the country grow into the superpower that they have now become. And the New Zealander feels that the series win against South Africa under Virat Kohli’s captaincy are the prelude of bigger things to come.
Excerpts
Q On Kohli’s captaincy:
I’ve always liked Virat’s approach to the game — he’s passionate, aggressive. I think you pick your best eleven and then pick your captain — he’s always going to be in your best eleven. He’s got huge shoes to fill but he’s obviously up for the job.
Q Should Kohli lead in ODIs too?
I’m too far away from the action to make an informed comment on that. MS’s performances are legendary. In one-day cricket or T20 cricket... I know if I put my Mumbai Indians hat on that when Dhoni walks to the wicket, it’s a wicket you want to get.
Q On India vs SA series:
From what I understand, one of the wickets turned quite a lot but the rest weren’t too bad. At the end of the day if you went to South Africa, you wouldn’t get wickets that turned. And if you come to India you’ve got to expect that. It’s not impossible for overseas teams to win here but it’s pretty difficult. I don’t think it’s a bad thing where countries have different conditions to examine technique.
It’s good for a young team to get a series win — any series win against South Africa is difficult because they fight. The challenge will be when India goes back to South Africa.
Q Favourite for World T20?
India, obviously. Because they’re going to be playing in home conditions.
Q On Day/night Tests:
I think it made a very encouraging start and obviously captured the imagination of the fans. That’s an important part of cricket these days. From what I hear, the start was encouraging. From the other feedback, which I read like everyone else, there’s probably one or two things that need to be ironed out.
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