Wright bats for international window for IPL

Former New Zealand captain John Wright said that Indian Premier League deserves a window in the international cricket calendar.

"IPL is definitely a big opportunity for the players, it's a fantastic tournament and it would be nice to see a window for it (by the ICC), where at least those who need to be involved can be involved," Wright said.

Wright also sees packed calendar, as one of the trends of modern-day cricket, stressing that it was a question of maintaining the right balance.

"I think it is becoming one of the trends of modern-day cricket. The fact that players are too tired, may well become a bigger issue, but it is a question of maintaining the right balance," he said.

"Teams got to make sure they have bench strength so that they can keep rotating players and rest them in-between," said Wright.

Asked if players would now prefer IPL to donning national colours, Wright said for any player the pride of playing for his country should always be the first motto, though he can't blame them for making commercial decisions.

"I meet youngsters who don't want to grow playing Test cricket. But I tell them that the fact remains that any great player will be judged by his performance in the Test format," he said.

When quizzed about Tendulkar's fine form in the IPL, Wright said, "He is such a great player and is currently in terrific form. He knows his game and I think we should leave it up to him as to when he will retire and respect his decision."

Wright also praised M S Dhoni, saying the India team under him had touched new heights.

"I believe Dhoni and (current coach) Gary Kirsten enjoy a good relationship and are working as a good outfit," he said.

Wright said he was not averse to coaching an IPL team and disclosed that on earlier occasions there had been "couple of informal approaches (for coaching) but timing was not right".

"Let's see if it happens again -- if the offer of coaching comes," he said.

On the controversies surrounding IPL this year, Wright said these were part of cricket in India where people are so passionate about the game.

"Before I took over as Indian team coach, I remember it generated a lot of controversy. People questioned the need of having a foreign coach. Some felt the concept of foreign coach will not work in India. Later on, there were some issues which generated lot of media attention," he recalled.