John Wright on Eden Gardens 2001 epic: I’ve never been involved in a match so extraordinary

I was the first foreign coach of the Indian team, and it was such a huge responsibility. I could have had a very short term had we lost the series. Who knows!

We had a two-week camp before the series. The boys wanted to achieve many things. We were new to each other. We worked out what they wanted to achieve. We planned how we practised, how we trained, how we prepared. We lived together as a team. We used to get up at 7 o’clock. Have breakfast together. We would train at 9, go back and sleep and come back to train in the afternoon. Training in the heat of Chennai was challenging. We got to know each other well. We watched an inspirational movie.

My philosophy has been that cricket is an individual game, but we need to play as a team. We appointed batting coaches to train with the tail-enders. The boys were confident. We also had a spinners’ camp. I had not seen Harbhajan (Singh). (Anil) Kumble and I saw him bounce the ball amazingly. We encouraged him to bowl a line where the ball turned to hit the top of the off stump. Sourav (Ganguly) was a huge supporter of all this, particularly Harbhajan. Sourav made the best point that the best form of defence would be to attack.

We were bowled out cheaply in the first innings, but (V.V.S.) Laxman played beautifully. I remember we had a conversation, and Sourav made the final decision because the captain always makes the final decision. I was personally very keen that, ‘Why not keep going the way Laxman was?’ We had nothing to lose. I knew Laxman loved batting No 3. So, Laxman batted No 3. That was tough on Rahul (Dravid) to drop to 6. Luckily, it went well. We had a team where anyone could bat at 3. Of course, Sachin (Tendulkar) loves 4. The change in order worked. It stayed the same for the next Test too.

We purposely delayed the declaration because we did not want to give the Australians any chance to win. They were the better side when they attacked. But when they had to defend and play time, they were not the same.

I’ve never been involved in a match so extraordinary. The thing I liked most about it was the fightback the boys showed. I saw two great innings (by VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid) and just loved the way they played Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

Laxman’s 281 was the best innings I’ve ever seen. I can never forget, on the second day, the first ball after lunch was hit on the up and exactly the same after tea. Mesmerising stuff. They weren’t bad balls. And the other thing I remember was Laxman playing Warne, going down the track, to the pitch of the ball, and hitting it through the cover. And if he wasn’t quite there, he flicked it through the onside.

And of course, Dravid. He was our rock through the five years that I was with the team. Their partnership under extreme pressure was unforgettable. Not just the mental challenge, but the physical ones in that heat. Dravid was cramping, and Laxman had back issues. The sensational stuff from Harbhajan (Singh) can never be forgotten.

You always look for something unusual, and it came from Sachin’s competitiveness as a bowler. He changed the game on the final day. I would compliment Sourav’s captaincy. There was some fabulous catching by (Sadagoppan) Ramesh and (Shiv Sunder) Das. It was a great team effort. The tail wagged to put Australia under pressure. If you can get the greatest teams under pressure, they mostly tend to lose their way. That’s what we did. Getting Mark Waugh (by Raju) was a game-changer. In the next Test at Chennai, Mark nearly took the game away from us. He plays with soft hands, a marvellous player of spin.

I had never experienced a full house at Eden Gardens. I can never forget how the crowd rose with the fall of Ricky Ponting. As he walked back, the roar was amazing. It was the same when he was walking in. I guess the momentum was maintained because the crowd was behind the team. It was like a big avalanche that engulfed Australia.

At the end of India’s first innings, I was wondering if I might end up as a coach with the shortest international career. After the win, we drove to the airport in a cab, and Sourav was with me. He got calls from all over the world. It was a great experience. The next game was again a huge boost for all of us.

Looking back, it was perhaps an escape for us, but it confirmed that we could do some great things. The players always win the matches, not the coaches, and let me tell you that the changes in the batting order were made by Sourav.

I spent more time with the bowlers. There was no point in telling guys like Sachin, Sourav, Laxman, and Dravid what they were supposed to do. They had amazing skills and temperament. I just stayed out of their way. Always looked to encourage them. I always aimed at making the practice session hard and sometimes bringing in the fun element.

That partnership won us the game, and if you remember, they repeated that in Adelaide (2003-04). To watch them all bat was a great pleasure. I always used to sit with the batsmen. It was not about telling them how to do it, but telling them to bat for five sessions. It was a simple plan. By batting five sessions, you give the bowlers enough runs to defend. Those partnerships changed the Test, the series and also the mindset of the team.

I recently had a conversation with a member of the hotel staff in Mumbai, and the young lad shared a personal story from that epic match. This boy (Ananda Dasgupta) was five and came to the stadium for three days with his father. At the end of the day, his father told him, “We are not coming tomorrow. You’d better attend your school.” Ananda persuaded his father to take him for the fourth day. India changed the course of the series that day (14 March 2001). Ananda shared this story with me, and I had goosebumps. Amazing that a five-year-old had such faith in Laxman, Dravid and the Indian cricket team. He remembers the Test like the back of his hand.

Let me conclude by saying that it was a team effort. The boys were honest with each other. There was a fun element in how we tackled the tough situations. We had a saviour for every aspect of the game. We were a big family. I will never forget the Test. I will never forget the noise at the fall of Australia’s last wicket (McGrath).

(As told to Vijay Lokapally)

Published on Mar 15, 2026