Don’t forget the foreign hand

Some months ago, a large batch of emails from a variety of readers in the subcontinent suggested that whatever Team India have achieved cann...

Some months ago, a large batch of emails from a variety of readers in the subcontinent suggested that whatever Team India have achieved cannot be considered as being wholly ‘Indian’ because of John Wright’s influence. Sadly, it’s a seriously-misguided and blinkered view. It is also one that doesn’t accept the role the coach has played over the last three years.

What would be interesting is to see what the views of the same agnostics are now. Why, on Tuesday, there were those who blamed Wright for depriving Sachin Tendulkar of his double century with the enforced declaration. Do they now still see Wright as the ‘‘unnecessary foreign influence’’ or would they take note of Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly who have repeatedly suggested that it is Wright’s guiding, calming and stable influence that has given the side that extra edge? It is the sort of confidence that enabled them to face the Australians in the toughest theatre in the game and draw a series.

A coach’s job is to prepare the team and give them ideas which suit their style of play; it is the captain’s role to carry out the formula. Dravid’s leadership in this victory by an innings and 58 runs in Multan is part of the off-field planning which worked well and reflects on the team’s stronger mental psyche as they carried out the tactical ploys needed to maintain pressure on Pakistan.

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Now it is time to move on to Lahore where whatever awaits the tourists, they have a better idea of how to handle Pakistan on their patch of turf than they had before the tour started. After all, it is about knowing the conditions and the idiosyncracies of each venue; where bowling and batting strengths are best suited to a team’s gameplan and how to manipulate them into the tactics to be used.

For some it may be remarkable, for those of us who know him better though, it is not surprising how Dravid has slipped easily into the leadership role. He has done it in such a way that his own failure to put big runs on the board in Multan has been overlooked. What has emerged though may have surprised many: his instinctive habit of how to apply pressure and the way he handled the bowling tactics. It expressed the individuality of his style of leadership.

To maintain the momentum going to Lahore is one of the important factors in this Test series. It was established on Day One in Multan and the psychological factor of sustaining this thrust is going to be the dividing line between establishing a 2-0 lead or being held to a draw.

What seems to have escaped the attention of many, but former West Indies Test captain Richie Richardson has been quick to pick up on and agree with me, is that India not only have the formula but are carrying on from where they left off against Australia. It is a battle-hardened team and knows what it is about. What was learnt on that tough rockface Down Under is being put into practice on the playing fields of Pakistan.

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The big challenge in Lahore will be about confronting whatever Pakistan will do in their attempt to level the series. A green pitch to suit their bowlers is one suggestion; it is where India’s new self-belief will be tested. As well as each individual’s ability to handle what will be a new set of circumstances.

While India’s top six batsmen have become the envy of most others, including a sneaking admiration from former Australian captain Ian Chappell, they have also discovered the bowlers to take 20 wickets in a Test. The revelation is Irfan Pathan who gets more through the air than lateral movement off the pitch and the Pakistan batsmen are battling to handle his pace. In some ways he is more lethal than Shoaib Akhtar has ever been, and that suggests he is a match-winner India need to preserve as much as possible.