Former India coach John Wright seen with Virender Sehwag [Twitter]
India regained lost glory and found new purpose in cricket under former head coach John Wright, who took over after the match-fixing sage that rocked Indian cricket in the late 1990s. Wright and former captain Sourav Ganguly unearthed superstars from the non-traditional cricketing centres in India and build a team for the future.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag is one such player who played under the coach-captain duo and blossomed into a future great. However, Sehwag came with his flaws, which were apparent in his early days, with a lack of temperament and laziness.
Narrating an incident from 2004, Sehwag shared how he and Wright got into an ugly confrontation after the latter grabbed the opener by his collar after the former got out cheaply.
As quoted by NDTV, the 44-year-old speaking during a book event in Delhi, explained the author of 'Pitchside: My Life in Indian Cricket’, and former BCCI GM Amrit Mathur had to intervene to calm tensions down between the two parties.
I was pushed around & pulled by collar: Virender Sehwag
“I was pushed around by John Wright in the 2004 England tour. He pulled me by my collar after I got out cheaply. I was very angry and said to (the then manager) Rajiv Shukla, How can a gora (foreigner) hit me? Later Amrit Mathur and Rajiv Shukla got me and Wright to patch up."
Despite the altercation, Sehwag and Wright bonded well over the years, which the Delhi-born explained later in the event.
Sehwag won the 2011 World Cup with India, having come perilously close in 2003 under Wright, where the Ganguly-led side lost the 2003 WC Final to Australia.
 "Vishal Mehra")
