‘Beyond Boundaries’, the autobiography of 1983 World Champion team member and former Indian selector Sandeep Patil, was released in Mumbai on November 6, 2024. In this book, Sandeep Patil shares his views about some of India’s coaches since John Wright.

The former player believes that John Wright was successful as the Indian coach because he gave free rein to the players. But then Greg and Anil Kumble were unable to do so.

John Wright was the ideal coach for India- Sandeep Patil

Describing John Wright, Sandeep Patil wrote that, he was an ideal coach for India and after his tenure, India’s record abroad kept getting better. He also said that Wright kept his distance from the press and was not in the news much.

Sandeep Patil wrote in his book,

Since the year 2000, India has had many international coaches and support staff. This has been of great benefit, as India’s foreign record has continuously improved. It started with John Wright becoming India’s first foreign coach. I think John was the ideal coach for India. He was soft spoken, polite, always kept to himself and was happy living in the shadow of Sourav Ganguly. Apart from all this, he maintained distance from the press. He managed it so well that he was rarely in the news, unlike Greg Chappell’s tenure.

Greg Chappell was in the news every day- Patil

Patil believes that Greg Chappell did not try to understand the thought process of the BCCI board members, president and secretary. Chappell could not establish good relations with other members of the Indian team. Patil also told that Chappell was in the news every day.

With Chappelle, he was in the news every day. It is very important for a coach to first understand the policy of that board, the thinking of the board members and the chairman. He should have a good rapport with the president and secretary, and of course with the captain and the team. John did this brilliantly.

During John’s tenure, there was no senior and junior issue. It was a team. He believed that all the seniors were leaders in some way or the other, he respected them and gave them free rein, which I think Anil Kumble did not do and also Greg Chappell.

Sandeep Patil also told in his book that, instead of learning about the system in India, Greg Chappell wanted to change things from the beginning. However, John Wright was the complete opposite, as he took time to understand Indian cricket.

Let us tell you, John Wright coached India in 182 matches, out of which the team won 89 matches. Meanwhile, India won 40 out of 81 matches under Chappell’s leadership. Anil Kumble’s tenure was much shorter than the other two, during his tenure India won 22 out of 35 matches.