VVS Laxman Reveals How John Wright Made Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh Better Batsmen

There was a time when Team India was considered a complete ‘batting unit’, in cricket. It is a no-brainer that in the past, the Indian Cricket Team relied heavily on its batsmen to win matches. However, in games where the Indian batting lineup failed to click, the whole team struggled.

That is not the case at present, as evident from the match-winning exploits of Indian bowlers against New Zealand in the ongoing T20 series.

Nowadays, the Indian bowling attack is well potent, they can win matches single-handedly for the team, as they contribute with both the ball and the bat as well.

However, this culture of bowlers contributing to both aspects of the game saw former coach John Wright playing a crucial role. Wright coached India between 2000 and 2005.

Also Read: Int’l Games Should Not Be Played On Tiny Grounds: Harsha Bhogle

VVS Laxman reveals how John Wright helped Indian bowlers become better batsmen:

Former Indian legend VVS Laxman shed light on how Wright helped the likes of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh become better batsmen.

Speaking to India Today, VVS revealed,  “I think I should give credit to John Wright for this where I convinced John Wright that it is very important that we got bowlers who take pride in their batting whether Anil, Harbhajan, Ishant, Zaheer, whoever. We were very fortunate to have those bowlers who took a lot of pride in their batting and bowling.”

Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh did well under John Wright:

Also Read: Tim Seifert Asserts Jasprit Bumrah Is A ‘Hard Nut To Crack’

He further added, “John made it a point that each batsman in the team would become a batting coach and a batting partner to one bowler. For me, it was Zaheer Khan. We had to make sure that after each net session we gave a throw down to the bowlers so they can improve on their skills.”

Team India is currently reaping rewards of the philosophy that Wright instilled in his players back then.

After the heroics of Indian bowlers in the second T20I, the attention shifts to Hamilton, where the third T20 will be played. India can wrap up the series with a win against the Black Caps on 29th January.