'Every team is beatable'

John Wright, India's coach, has said that he believes Australia are beatable. In an interview in the November issue of Wisden Asia Cricket, Wright said, "we should not be going to Australia thinking how tough they are. We are going to go there thinking how good we can be. Every team is beatable. We have beaten them before and I would like to believe we can do it again."

Wright spoke about how teams often get overawed when they play in Australia. "You can develop a siege mentality," he said, "and they [Australia] are very clever about it. But that's part of the challenge. You have to go there and be mentally strong, it's a great test. There is no reason why you have to look up to them and feel awe. You know it's a game of cricket; you've got to back yourself."

He talked about the importance of aggression and yet not wavering from the game plan. "You have to be aggressive against everyone. But you have to play to a plan. Sometimes the plan might be to actually slow down the game, not allow them to dictate terms. Your planning has to be aggressive, which doesn't always mean that you try to hit every ball out of the park. All right, they [the Australians] are great players. But so what? Who cares? They play their brand of cricket, we play ours, and let's see where it goes. You ought be able to put pressure on them and pressure can do strange things to even the toughest of teams."

Wright acknowledged that the Indian team had been far from impressive in their recent Test series against New Zealand. "I think we played below ourselves. I don't think we played well as a unit, though obviously there were some good individual performances. If you compare our energy levels, particularly in the field, with that of New Zealand, that gives off some signs. I think we need to up our energy."

He was not too concerned about Zaheer Khan and Sachin Tendulkar being totally off colour and was all praise for VVS Laxman. "We need Zaheer to bowl well. I have seen what he is capable of when he is at the top of his game. You know, bowlers, like batters, can have an off game. Sachin will sort it out. I have every confidence in him. We're talking about two games; and in one of those games he got a fifty. Sachin will work it out.

"The thing I'm liking about Laxman is the consistency he has shown over the last two years. I have a lot of admiration for VVS Laxman. I'm sure he's going to carry his good form to Australia."

Wright lamented the opportunities that the team had squandered in Zimbabwe and West Indies to win a series abroad. However, he insisted that the team knows exactly what they have to do to rectify these mistakes. "We need to be more incisive with the new ball and we have to be more solid at the top. Look at any top team in the world from any era, they all had very good top threes. And then we've got to keep on developing good seam bowlers, and create depth and competition in that."

When asked what he would tell them if he put the whole team in a room, he said, "that we have a great opportunity ahead. Forget about the World Cup. It's gone, it's finished, and we didn't win it. We need to look forward, get hungry and improve. Let's work out how we can become better, not only in the one-day game but also in Test cricket, and let's get our attitude and desire together and do everything with total commitment."