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Chennai: Amid mounting speculation on him being appointed Kolkata Knight Riders' coach, former India coach John Wright on Saturday said he doesn't mind reuniting with Sourav Ganguly in the Indian Premier League next year.
"We worked well together. It was a good combination. I have no qualms about working again with Sourav Ganguly," Wright, who was the Indian team's coach during Ganguly's captaincy and who is here as New Zealand 'A' assistant coach for the Buchi Babu tournament, said.
Wright, who is tipped to become KKR coach, recalled the "exciting" stint with Team India under Ganguly.
"Working here is always so exciting since there are always speculations, which keeps you rather busy and it is also part of the excitement," Wright quipped.
"Sourav and myself are strong individuals and we had great times being in the same boat. He was the first captain from Bengal and I was the first foreign coach for India and we had known we have to win matches. He did his things his way. I would challenge him. Sometimes, we did not know why to agree.
"He did things differently but we had great trust in our relationship. I was so proud at the way he fought back after being dropped. It is always nice to see that your players are doing well, when you are out of the job and being away in your own country," said the former New Zealand opener.
Wright said he was also pleased to see pacer Zaheer Khan's revival.
"I was really impressed with Zaheer Khan. His improvement has been tremendous. He is a world class fast bowler. I have seen his development from the time when he wanted to be a professional cricketer," he said.
The former New Zealand captain said India has the biggest talent pool in international cricket.
"We do not have a bigger talent pool like in India. It has been very interesting working comparing in India and New Zealand," he said.
Wright coached India for four years and he says the biggest difference between the side then and now, is the increased confidence.
"There seems to be more confidence in the team. They seem to be winning outside India more. The Test team has so much of players that I had worked with. The team that won the Twenty20 world event is an exciting side. Gary Kirsten has been working well along with the team members," he said.
Wright was also impressed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.
"I follow it that Sachin wants to cross 15,000 runs and wants to win the World Cup. So, that probably in many ways typifies the goals and the attitude that the members of the present team has. Dhoni's captaincy is very impressive. He probably had a good tutor in Kumble. So India is making progress," he said.
Looking back at his stint with the Indian team, Wright said he had a good time.
"You always try to work with the individuals in the team to make them better. Some time that requires some encouragement and sometimes it requires some firm words. I think that is part and parcel of a coaching cycle.
"It is always a bit of both and sometimes you can please everyone. I do know that working in India, you have to get results and I love about that in India cricket. I am honest that it is not fun coaching a losing team," he said.
On the issues facing the game, Wright said saving Test cricket is most important but warned against too much experimentation.
"ICC needs to be careful in tinkering with the five-day test cricket. May be, if you do, you got to have a trial period. I feel very strongly that it is good to have the longer form of the game. Limited overs and Twenty20 is part of cricket. It is so hard for youngsters to learn properly in 50 and 20-over cricket," he said.
"In shorter versions of the game, it is only a question of limiting the runs and how do you expect the bowlers to learn to take wickets and how many batsmen learn as to how to make hundreds in games other than Test cricket. It is a great challenge for Cricket Administrators to get the balance right," he added.
Asked about the WADA-BCCI standoff on the 'Whereabouts' clause of the anti-doping code which cricketers claim infringes on their privacy, Wright said a middle path has to be found.
"It is a complex situation as it differs from country to country. The best possible solution for the respective cricket boards will be to find a strong balance between maintaining privacy of the players and a common policy," he said.
He was also asked about Kolkata Knight Riders owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's detention at an airport in the United States on Saturday.
"It is generally not done. It is the job of Immigration authorities but why should that happen to one of the world's biggest superstar? I disagree with it," he said.
