True to his low-profile nature, John Wright remained firmly in the background when New Zealand soared high against South Africa here on Friday night.
The New Zealand coach surely would have nursed that shy smile of his and sat content in the dressing room when Daniel Vettori's men ambushed the South Africans in the ICC World Cup quarterfinal.
In the lead-up to the match, given the context of it being a game between New Zealand and South Africa, ‘White Lightning' was in the news instead of Wright. Allan Donald, South African speed legend and New Zealand's bowling coach, featured in questions raised both in the pre-match and post-match press conferences. “The fact that you are asking questions about Allan shows that he has added something to the team,” Vettori said on Thursday.
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And after South Africa crumbled yet again, Donald's name had a resonance with the situation as many moons ago, he was party to the great choke in the 1999 World Cup.
Whatever be the media space they occupy, it is a fact that Wright and Donald, in their own contrasting ways, have changed the mindset of a team that was floundering ahead of the World Cup.
“John (Wright) has been great for the batsmen because he's given them some clarity about how to go about their innings,” Scott Styris said a few weeks ago.
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“Donald has tried to work on our aggression. It is not that we lacked it before but he obviously has added to it,” quipped Jacob Oram, who turned out to be New Zealand's talisman against the Proteas.
On a turgid pitch, New Zealand's batting hero was a player, known for his flamboyance on and off the field.
Jesse Ryder played an in-the-trenches innings (83) that would have gladdened Wright, himself a gritty opener during his heyday.
Ryder has been a difficult player mainly because of his penchant to get easily distracted and Wright, used to handling big stars while coaching India from 2000 to 2005, knows what it is to tap the shoulder at the right time and show the correct path. New Zealand may not have an express quick like Shane Bond anymore in its ranks but aggression, as espoused by Donald, was never in short supply against the South Africans. Martin Guptill and the others were buzzing on the field, diving full length, flicking in quick throws and it helped that South Africa's ploy to go in with five bowlers backfired as a long tail was exposed to pressure.
For a team that suffered four defeats at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium last October, New Zealand has found a way forward thanks to self-belief and some generous help from weak South African nerves.
And for Wright, who in his unassuming ways revived Indian cricket in 2000, it is time again to script another progressive evolution of a talented team with Donald giving him company. New Zealand has the semifinal hurdle ahead but, as Vettori said, the victory against South Africa “is a wonderful achievement.”