[Kingling]

[CENTER]A sequence of losses[/CENTER]


By Zaheer Abbas


WHEN I wrote last week after Pakistan’s defeat in its initial game against the West Indies, I was critical of Bob Woolmer and the team management. Bob had also not shied away in taking a dig at me and other former players for being critical of him. But, of course, there was nothing personal on either side. There could not be. And when I had written the sentence, “... if the team’s performance in the match against West Indies is anything to go by, the exalted coach would get silenced much before the critics”, I did not have the remotest inkling that Bob would get silenced for good.

Like everyone else, I was left with numbed senses when I first heard of this hard-to-believe tragedy. The death of any human anywhere is a cause of sorrow, but Bob died in Pakistani colours; he was on national duty. That leads to an additional layer of grief and sorrow all around. I offer my most sincere condolences to his family in their hour of personal anguish and distress. To be honest, we were never friends in the real sense of the word. Of course, we were decent acquaintances on the English county circuit and ran into each other even afterwards. And, as has been said repeatedly by every one who knew him, Bob had many a quality that is appreciated in human beings. He was a soft-spoken person who was not averse to the idea of interacting with others.

Professional matters apart, for we all have our own independent thinking on such things, Bob surely was an amiable person who will be missed by his friends. Even in professional matters, his name is bound to be remembered for long because of his role in international cricket. My argument against his appointment as the national coach has never had anything to do with his own calibre. It was purely based on his lack of understanding of the Pakistani mindset, the Pakistani psyche and the Pakistani conditions. In my eyes, these are vital issues and anyone lacking in these areas can do little as the national coach, and that is exactly what happened with Bob and his team despite all his technology-driven innovations and utterly impressive coaching background.

While remembering Bob, it is only inevitable that the mind wanders off to the fate of the team that he has left behind. Whether he was able to take it forward is something that depends on how you look at it, and this is no time to indulge in such discussions. It was one thing to be critical when the man was around because he could put his point of view across, which he almost always did, but in his absence it will be pretty unfair. So I close the chapter on that, leaving it for the cricket historians to have the last word on it, but there is so much more to talk about Pakistan Cricket and the state in which it finds itself right now.

The match against Ireland, I am dead sure, was lost in the mind much before it was lost on the ground. The green surface was enough to sink their hearts even against a side that comprised nothing more than part-time club cricketers. The gutless manner in which the match was lost actually was worse than the loss itself.

After a campaign that could last all of two matches over five days, Pakistan turned out to be the first one out of a tournament that it had gone to win. That it has resulted in a series of resignations is something that could only be expected. But the point is, what now? I hope the relevant quarters would have learnt their lessons now and would try to do something different. and on a long-term basis.


Coutesy: DAWN newspaper.