Former India captain and batting ace Sunil Gavaskar claimed in a newspaper column on Sunday that John Wright, till recently India's coach, was abused on his face by some Indian players.

The batting legend, who was one of the six members of a committee that selected Greg Chappell to replace Wright, wrote in the Hindustan Times, "One of the things that may have made up John's mind not to renew his contract could have been the way some players treated him in the last year. He was told off and sworn at by some players."

Gavaskar mentioned this in the context of a debate whether the team should have an Indian or a foreign coach. He said that he had written the column just before the selection of Chappell was made.

"One thing is sure -- however inefficient an Indian coach would be, there is little chance that he could be abused to his face by any player, however big the players may be," Gavaskar wrote.

Gavaskar stated it was not meant to take anything away from the former New Zealand captain "who, during his playing days and even now, is one of the nicest of men and a real gentleman."

Wright had to do a difficult job, he added.