… on his 13th death anniversary

FORMER Pakistan captains, Younis Khan, Inzamam ul Haq and Shaoib Malik sent out touching tributes to their late coach Bob Woolmer, on his 13th death anniversary.

Woolmer died on March 18, 2007 just a few hours after Pakistan’s shocking defeat against Ireland during the ICC World Cup in West Indies.

Pakistan were subsequently knocked out of the tournament but Woolmer’s untimely death left everyone stunned.

Pakistan’s World T20 winning captain Younis Khan shared a picture of him and Woolmer on twitter with a note, which reads: “Dear Bob, It has been 13 years since we have lost you, but you are as fresh as yesterday in my memories. I owe you my cricketing success and I wish you were alive to have witnessed my achievements till date. I hope I made you proud. Rest in peace”.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik tweeted, “Miss you coach #RIPBobWoolmer.”

Inzamam, who was the captain of the side during 2007 World Cup campaign, made a video for late coach.

The former Pakistan captain shared his whole experience with Bob Woolmer and also explained what he and other teammates suffered during days of Woolmer’s death in West Indies.

“Woolmer and I spent time together, I was the captain of Pakistan team during his tenure,” said Inzamam. “We shared many great moments together. He was the most organised coach that I ever worked with.”

“I learned a lot from him. He was not like other coaches. His methods were different, and never forced anything on player or captain. He knew how to give respect to the captain.”

“I got to learn a lot from him. He never used to force things upon the selectors. He simply used to bring me the stats and never undermined the captain with respect to the selection of players.

Speaking about the team’s situation after Ireland loss, he said: “When we lost the match against Ireland, we entered the dressing room very quietly. We didn’t discuss anything there.”

“When we reached the hotel, coincidently, we all were together in the lift when Bob asked me: what is the plan? I said we will talk tomorrow over breakfast, But he never came for it,” said Inzamam, who represented Pakistan in five World Cups. “I went back to my room and got a call from someone asking to come to Bob’s room.”

“Police had come to his floor and they didn’t allow me to go inside Woolmer’s room. Our team manager asked them to ‘let him come, he is Pakistan captain’. I can’t express my feeling what I saw. Bob was taken to the hospital and soon news came that he was no more. The entire team was shocked. The doctors had declared the death as murder and we were all left stunned by it.”

Furthermore, Inzamam shared that they were being interrogated by Jamaican police, as we were behind Woolmer’s death.

Initially the Jamaican police had said they were probing a murder case but after three months they announced that the former England cricketer had died of natural causes.