The New Zealand born Wright took on the challenge and adapted remarkably well to transform India into a force in the international arena.
Statistician Rajneesh Gupta has a look at Wright's reign.
| India's performance under John Wright in Tests | |||||
| Opponent | P | W | L | D | %W |
| Australia | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36 |
| England | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 29 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50 |
| South Africa | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | 33 |
| West Indies | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 37 |
| Zimbabwe | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 67 |
| Bangladesh | 3 | 3 | - | - | 100 |
| TOTAL | 52 | 21 | 15 | 16 | 40 |
| At Home | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 46 |
| Abroad | 28 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 36 |
| India's performance under John Wright in ODIs | |||||
| Opponent | P | W | L | NR | %W |
| Australia | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 24 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 4 | 1 | - | 80 |
| England | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 57 |
| Kenya | 6 | 5 | 1 | - | 83 |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | - | - | 100 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1 | - | - | 100 |
| New Zealand | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 38 |
| Pakistan | 16 | 6 | 10 | - | 37 |
| South Africa | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 43 |
| Sri Lanka | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 64 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | - | - | 100 |
| West Indies | 13 | 7 | 6 | - | 54 |
| Zimbabwe | 18 | 15 | 3 | - | 83 |
| TOTAL | 129 | 67 | 56 | 6 | 54 |
| At Home | 42 | 19 | 22 | 1 | 46 |
| Abroad | 87 | 48 | 34 | 5 | 59 |
Wright missed the opening match of the TVS Cup held in Bangladesh in Apr 2003 [Ashok Malhotra acted as coach] , but returned for the remaining matches.
| Summary of India's performance under last five coaches | ||||||
|
Tests | ||||||
| Coach | Started in | P | W | L | D | %W |
| SM Patil | Apr 1996 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Madan Lal | Sep 1996 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 25 |
| AD Gaekwad | Sep 1998 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Kapil Dev | Aug 1999 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| JG Wright | Nov 2000 | 52 | 21 | 15 | 16 | 40 |
|
ODIs | ||||||
| Coach | P | W | L | T | NR | %W |
| SM Patil | 10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| Madan Lal | 79 | 33 | 38 | 1 | 7 | 46 |
| AD Gaekwad | 47 | 24 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 52 |
| Kapil Dev | 40 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 41 |
| JG Wright | 129 | 67 | 56 | 0 | 6 | 54 |
Gaekwad returned in Sep-Oct 2000 for nine one-day games (W5,L4) after Kapil Dev resigned
Highs of John Wright's tenure:
-2-1 win in Test series over Aus in 2000-01.
-NatWest Series win in 2002
-drawn series in England in 2002 after having lost the first Test by 170 runs
-Played in World Cup final in 2002-03
-First Indian team not to lose a series in Australia [in 2003-04] since 1986-87
-First Indian team to win Test & ODI series in Pakistan [in 2003-04]
The low points:
-2-1 series loss to SL in Sri Lanka in 2001
-2-1 series loss to WI in West Indies in 2001-02
-lost seven match ODI series to NZ 5-2 in 2002-03
-were blanked in two Test series in NZ in 2002-03
-TVS Cup in India in 2003-04 [lost to Australia in final]
-VB Series in Australia in 2003-04 [humiliating defeats vs Aus in both the finals]
-2-1 series loss to Aus in 2004-05 at home soil
-lost six match ODI series to Pakistan after taking a 2-0 lead
...and the near misses:
-Coca Cola Cup in Zimbabwe in 2001 [lost to WI in the final after winning all the league matches]
-missed the chance to win Test series in Zimbabwe in 2001 by losing the second Test after having won the first
-Standard Bank Series in SA in 2001-02 [lost to SA in the final]
-ODI series vs WI in 2001-02 [lost 4-3]
-could not beat NZ in two match series at home soil in 2003-04
-Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in 2004 [could not chase target of 229 in the final v SL]
-missed the opportunity to win back to back Test series against Pakistan in 2004-05 by losing the third Test after taking 1-0 lead.
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