Pak daily accuses Wright of siding with ?bigots?

The viciousness and the tone of the attack has left even most of the Pakistani journalists shocked.

Poor John Wright. The Indian coach has always tried to maintain a low profile, not the easiest of things in a cricket-obsessed nation like India. Yet, every now and then, despite his best efforts, he gets dragged into the news for reasons beyond his control. On this tour itself, there was a fair bit of speculation (very unfair to Wright at this crucial stage) that he was soon going to be replaced by either Dean Jones or Greg Chappell.

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And now, he's been castigated in vicious fashion in a newspaper column on completely unjustifiable grounds. On Sunday morning, everyone here was discussing an article in The Nation, in which he has been accused of having “double standards”, of “crass opportunism”, and joining hands with “bigots” and “hate-propelled apostles of communalism” (this last bit especially, is bewildering). The article -- basically about how Wright complained about umpiring decisions when India was batting but did not complain when Inzamam got a bad decision -- ends with saying “such characters are sickening”.

The viciousness and the tone of the attack has left even most of the Pakistani journalists covering the series shocked.

It is silly to say that it is Wright's business to protest any wrong decision regarding Pakistan --- that is up to the Pakistan coach and management and no one will doubt that Javed Miandad is more than capable of handling any such thing. It is believed anyway, that the Pakistan team management complained in writing about Inzamam being given out caught in the first Test when TV replays later indicated that the ball might have gone off the pad.

This was the kind of brutal piece with jingoistic overtones that neither makes any logical sense nor any point and is offensive. No one knows if Wright got up in the morning and actually read the piece but publicly, he seemed unaware of it when he addressed the media after nets and said "umpiring is a tough job" and that TV replays have made umpires lives that much more difficult.

The former Kiwi skipper would not need any of this really. He has enough on his plate with the other talking point of this Test --- India's selection hassles.

It is more or less certain that Aakash Chopra will not make the cut for the final Test following Sourav Ganguly's return and keeping in mind the need to accommodate the in-form Yuvraj Singh.

While Wright called the tickly issue a "good problem to have" for any team and said that the opener's slot was a specialist's position, he indicated that in this Test, India would go in with "non-specialists". He was really cautious though, for he also added, "Opening combinations can fail a few times but when they do well, we can get a stand like we did in Multan."

When asked by a scribe if it was prudent to contemplate changing a successful opening combine at this crucial juncture, he replied, "You tell me what to do." When told that one option would be to tell Yuvraj very well done but he would have to sit out now that Ganguly was back, he agreed. “Yes, that is one option.” No one really believes it is a serious one though, after the Chandigarh youngster's outstanding performance in the Lahore Test. Wright pointed out as much. “When we selected Yuvraj in Multan, we knew he was talented but his efforts have been outstanding. So it is a good problem to have.”

While most in media circles here feel that the Chopra-Sehwag combine (India's 42nd opening combination since Sunil Gavaskar retired), should not be touched, no one is denying that the prospect of watching the flamboyant Yuvraj and Sehwag opening together here would be exciting.

The Indians are contemplating going in with two spinners. Wright said they're still discussing that option. He added that while Irfan Pathan and L Balaji were more or less a certainty, they were still to decide between Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra -- if they go in with a third paceman.

Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul Haq (capt), Taufeeq Umer, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik, Rao Iftikhar, Fazle Akbar.

India (likely): Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble.

Umpires: David Shepherd (ENG), Rudi Koertzen (RSA).

TV umpire: Zamir Haider (PAK).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).