SPORTS

Wright, Leipus, Le Roux's future uncertain

By Faisal Shariff
March 28, 2003 22:10 IST

The morning after the World Cup final at The Wanderers, Adrian Le Roux, the Indian team's physical trainer, was clueless about his future with the Indian team. The 31-year-old South African said since his contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India is over he would be going home to Bloemfontein.

The story is much the same for physio Andrew Leipus, who also is unsure about an extension with the team. An official word was promised but it never came.

Same for coach John Wright, who had indicated that he would like to continue.

All this for a bunch of professional individuals, who managed to transform the Indian team into one of the most injury free units -- if not the fittest -- at the World Cup.

With BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya in South Africa during the fag end of the tournament, the lack of communication reeked off the unprofessional manner in which the Indian board operates. Not to mention the salary slips which still lie pending. But, then, that habit is as old as the BCCI's inception itself.

A member of the Indian team mentioned that John Wright, Andrew Leipus and Adrian Le Roux had suffered a rather insecure tenure, being put under the magnifying glass repeatedly after England's tour of India in 2002, before their contracts were extended till the World Cup.

Wright is currently in New Zealand beside his ailing father, unsure whether he will get another term with the Indian team.

The players too are uncertain about what the future holds for them vis-a-vis the team's support staff, each of whom they singled out for praise.

Some senior members of the side said they would stand up and fight for Wright if he is replaced.

According to Board of Control for Cricket in India sources in Kolkata, Wright's contract may be extended till April 20. An ad-hoc extension of contracts may also be offered to Leipus and Le Roux.

The BCCI wants to offer the ad-hoc extension to cover the tri-nation tournament, beginning in Dhaka on April 11.

John Wright's record as India coach:

ODIs

YEAR VENUE MATCHES WON LOST NO RESULT
2000 Home 5 4 1 --
2001 Home 5 2 3 --
2001 Away 19 10 9 --
2002 Home 18 9 9 --
2002 Away 17 10 4 3
2003 Away 11 7 4 --
TOTAL   75 42 30 3

Tests

YEAR VENUE MATCHES WON LOST NO RESULT
2000 Home 2 1 -- 1
2001 Home 6 3 1 2
2001 Away 7 2 4 1
2002 Home 5 4 -- 1
2002 Away 11 2 5 4
TOTAL   31 12 10 9

Record of Indian coaches for Tests: Home and Away

Coaches From To Matches Won Lost Drawn
Bishen Bedi (Abroad) 02-02-1990 28-08-1990 6 0 2 4
Abbas Ali Baig (Abroad) 27-11-1991 05-02-1992 5 0 4 1
Ajit Wadekar (Home) 29-01-1993 12-11-1995 13 9 1 3
Wadekar (Abroad) 18-10-1992 23-03-1994 9 1 1 7
Sandeep Patil (Abroad) 06-06-1996 09-07-1996 3 0 1 2
Madan Lal (Home) 10-10-1996 12-12-1996 4 3 1 0
Madan Lal (Abroad) 26-12-1996 13-08-1997 10 0 3 7
A D Gaekwad (Home) 19-11-1997 28-02-1999 9 3 3 3
A D Gaekwad (Abroad) 07-10-1998 13-11-2000 5 1 2 2
Kapil Dev (Home) 10-10-1999 06-03-2000 5 1 2 2
Kapil Dev (Abroad) 10-12-1999 04-01-2000 3 0 3 0

Record of Indian coaches for ODIs: Home and Away

Coaches From To Matches Won Lost No Result Tie  
Bedi 01-03-1990 20-07-1990 8 3 5 0 0 Abroad
Ashok Mankad 18-10-1991 25-10-1991 5 3 2 0 0 Abroad
Baig 10-11-1991 14-11-1991 3 2 1 0 0 Home
06-12-1991 15-03-1992 18 5 11 1 1 Abroad
Wadekar 18-01-1993 13-03-1996 40 27 12 0 1 Home
25-10-1992 14-04-1995 28 13 14 1 0 Abroad
Sunil Gavaskar 19-04-1994 22-04-1994 2 1 1 0 0 Abroad
Patil 03-04-1996 23-09-1996 18 5 12 1 0 Abroad
Madan Lal 17-10-1996 21-05-1997 10 5 5 0 0 Home
23-01-1997 02-10-1997 30 8 17 4 1 Abroad
Gaekwad 22-12-1997 04-04-1999 18 11 6 1 0 Home
11-12-1997 29-10-2000 75 37 34 4 0 Abroad
Kapil Dev 05-11-1999 19-03-2000 10 6 4 0 0 Home
10-01-2000 03-06-2000 15 3 12 0 0 Abroad

Faisal Shariff

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