Calcutta, Oct. 30 :    Calcutta, Oct. 30:  Barring a last-minute change of heart, on the part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), former New Zealand captain John Wright will be India's next coach. The announcement is expected Thursday, after Wright's financial package is cleared by the BCCI's finance committee. According to The Telegraph's sources, Wright's appointment will initially be for one year, but the option for extending the contract till the 2003 World Cup will almost surely be there in black-and-white. One learns Wright may take charge in the next fortnight itself, ahead of the first India-Zimbabwe Test in New Delhi, from November 18. Wright and ex-Australian captain Greg Chappell were interviewed in Chennai last week. Australia's 1999 World Cup-winning coach Geoff Marsh will be interviewed tomorrow, in Mumbai. Marsh's interview will be conducted by the same panel: BCCI president A.C. Muthiah, secretary Jaywant Lele, former president Raj Singh Dungarpur, National Cricket Academy director Hanumant Singh and former captain Srinivas Venkatraghavan. Both Wright and Marsh were well-placed till the latter himself opted out (citing 'family reasons') a fortnight back. Though Marsh did a U-turn, offering his services again, this dilly-dallying saw him concede much ground to Wright. Only a most 'extraordinary' presentation (at the interview) and 'practical' terms, will actually see Marsh back in the race. Chappell, in any case, was never quite a serious contender. Not because the powers-that-be need to be convinced about Chappell's credentials, but because he is 'too high-profile' and the possibility of ego-related differences between him and the team's senior pros cannot be discounted. 'We have at least two superstars (captain Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar) and the last thing we would like is disharmony of any kind in the dressing room,' explained a well-placed source. Chappell has been South Australia's coach from the 1998-99 season. Wright, on the other hand, is seen as a 'focussed, low-key operator,' who has earned excellent marks in man-management at Kent, the County he has been involved with for some years. In fact, when there apparently were major differences between Martin Crowe and Warren Lees, captain and coach, respectively, during the 1992 World Cup, the mediator's role was assigned to senior pro Wright. Obviously, Wright is highly regarded as a 'thinker', too.