During the 2007 ODI World Cup, the cricket community came to a complete halt when Bob Woolmer, the head coach of Pakistan, was discovered dead in his Jamaican hotel room, only hours after the Men in Green lost to Ireland and were eliminated from the game.
Younis Khan, who represented Pakistan at the major tournament, claimed Woolmer might have led the Asian heavyweights to greater heights if he had been the team’s coach for a longer amount of time.
“I have no doubt that if Woolmer had remained head coach, Pakistan cricket would have been very different today, and he would have taken it to great heights,” Younis told a television station in Pakistan.
Younis, the top run-scorer in Tests for Pakistan and a former captain of the team, revealed that he regularly sat down to talk cricket with Woolmer following games or net practises. The right-handed hitter claimed, nevertheless, that he was dissatisfied with his own performance and chose not to see the former England cricketer following the match against Ireland.
Bob (Woolmer) and I had a tight relationship, and we always sat down to talk cricket after a net session or game. We had lost to Ireland, so regrettably, we didn’t sit together the night dad died. I was quite angry with myself and also out for a duck. I walked to my room and shut the door behind me. I didn’t see him at breakfast the following day, and we found out about his passing later,” Younis said.
Authorities need to take care of us as well: Younis Khan
Younis went on to say that Woolmer’s passing and the strain the players faced in the Caribbean made him reconsider leading Pakistan for an extended period of time. Following the dispatch of their own security personnel to the West Indies to collaborate with the Jamaican police, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the government declared Woolmer’s death to have resulted from natural causes.
Younis claimed Woolmer had psychologically prepared him to be Pakistan’s captain after the World Cup for an extended period of time in all formats.
“After what all happened in the World Cup, I changed my mind and I became a reluctant captain and had no long-term tenure in mind,” said the 46-year-old.
Younis subtly conveyed his dissatisfaction with the players’ lack of assistance from their authorities during the course of their inquiry into Woolmer’s death. He claimed that the local police brought the players to another island and questioned them there for three days.
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“There, it felt like a torture to us. Younis said, “While I completely understand the obligations a player has to uphold as an ambassador of his nation, it should be the other way around—authorities must also take care of us.”
India
