Woolmer’s death an eye-opener for all

The ICC World Cup 2007 has generated its own share of fun, excitement, disappointment and sorrow for the last 10 days. The most tearful experience for cricket fans across the globe is the sudden death of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach.

Be it the captain, coach or the cricket board president, any position in Pakistan cricket is a hot seat. Cricket is a passion and part of life for most people in Pakistan. Hence, they can’t bear when their cricket team fails.

It’s the very same fans who usher, garland and carry victorious cricketers on their shoulders, turn violent and throw stones, use abusive language, burn posters and even attack their plush houses when the players fail.

That is part and parcel of the game in countries like Pakistan and India.

Hence, the players, coaches and even administrators in these countries are under tremendous pressure. Fortunately, such extremist fans or hooligans do not exist in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, cricket is a passion all over the sub-continent.

There were two shocking results at the ICC World Cup, much to the disappointment of the cricket-crazy sub-continent fans. The gloomiest day in Indian cricket was witnessed when they lost to Bangladesh by five wickets.

None expected minnows Bangladesh to spring such a big surprise in that Group ‘B’ match. But coach Dav Whatmore, the man who guided Sri Lanka to win the 1996 World Cup, has transformed the team to a fighting lot.

Following their morale-boosting win over New Zealand in a warm-up match, they had the better of India.

Even then, the shock of the tournament, probably one of the biggest upsets ever in the 32-year-old World Cup history, came when Ireland humiliated Pakistan by three wickets. Following their loss to the hosts West Indies in the ‘curtain raiser’ of the 16-nation mega event, Pakistan were eliminated from the Super Eight second round.

It was a shock too hard for them to bear. It was a bitter experience not only for Pakistan players but on the whole as a nation. Definitely coach Woolmer was well and truly aware of the repercussions that he and his team had to back home.

Undoubtedly, he would have been under tremendous pressure, even to pay for the wins of the players. Even Woolmer’s wife Gill has disclosed subsequently that her husband underwent “incredible stress” in performing his duties as Pakistan coach.

But ultimately poor Woolmer had to pay the supreme sacrifice. Widely regarded as one of the most innovative thinkers of the game, the 58-year- old cricketer turned coach had represented England in 19 Tests since late 70s.

Woolmer’s untimely death is a good eye-opener for all. Coaches all over the world do a thankless job. They are the people who work behind the scene to formulate successful strategies for the teams they are in charge. But in most cases, its coaches only get the blame when a team fails, but not the credit they deserve when those teams are doing well.

In this part of the world, most sports administrators and politicians come into the picture when their national cricketers are doing well. But when the teams fail, it’s the coaches and captains who will have to swallow all the dirt.

Pakistan’s elimination from World Cup forced skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq to retire from limited over cricket and also to step down from the Test captaincy. As a true leader, Inzamam has taken the responsibility for the team’s downfall. But he alone could not be blamed for the setbacks.

After a shock five-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, India recovered quickly to smash the World Cup record for the highest total - 398 held by Sri Lanka since 1996. The Indians made a commanding 413 for 5 against Bermuda.

Bangladesh’s memorable win over India has made the Group ‘B’ wide open. At the time of writing, table leaders Sri Lanka were playing Bangladesh. But the crunch game would be Friday’s tie between Sri Lanka and India. It would be a make or break situation for both teams.

Hosts West Indies got an early relief when they made an early booking to the Super Eight second round. It has been a tremendous boost for West Indian cricket. Whether Brian Lara and his men could maintain that rhythm to the calypso music of the West Indian fans is left to be seen.

The fate of other teams clashing for places in the Super Eight second round would be decided within the next few days. Certainly there will be more surprises, excitement and fun. We can expect more glorious uncertainties of cricket.