This team dosent even look like winning at the end.An early exit seems to be on the cards like 2003.Our arsenal is sitting at home injured/drugged up and these ping pong throwers dont look like running through a batting line up.I really admire your patience in putting up with these players and also am bedazzled at your inability to improve this lot.I would recommend putting your resume up for a new job as the axe is pretty much round the corner.

The loss was a very disappointing one and we should have knocked those 241 with the loss of maybe 6 wickets. A whole nation is waiting for 11 players to perform on the biggest stage of all. Cmon Bob!, we believe in you! Good Luck for the rest of the matches.

Let me ask you what Mushtaq should also tell you
- There was no BOB Woolmer in that team
- There was Tiger like leader in that team
- There were Wasim, Mush, Mindad, Imran, Moin, Aqib in that team
- Please we know that you did nothing with your laptop what I was expecting that someone from UK will be using this machine to analyse something ...
- I am glad you have promoted your web site, you have already milk this cow[PCB] enough that you dont have anything else to sell
- I know that you will be glad to play against Ireland and Zimbabwe.
- IF you believe in doing business then you should return all the money to PCB if Pakistan could not make to Final :)
-

Why dont you concentrate on preparing for matches instead of writing diary entries maybe we might win?

Also if you think SA will win why are you managing Pakistan?

Let me ask you what Mushtaq should also tell you
- There was no BOB Woolmer in that team
- There was Tiger like leader in that team
- There were Wasim, Mush, Mindad, Imran, Moin, Aqib in that team
- Please we know that you did nothing with your laptop what I was expecting that someone from UK will be using this machine to analyse something ...
- I am glad you have promoted your web site, you have already milk this cow[PCB] enough that you dont have anything else to sell
- I know that you will be glad to play against Ireland and Zimbabwe.
- IF you believe in doing business then you should return all the money to PCB if Pakistan could not make to Final :)
-

With the present political scenario of the country, not too many people have taken notice of this rather expected defeat in the opening match of the world cup. Cricket was not the talk of the day in the offices, colleges or elsewhere quite understandably and while Bob thinks 13 unlucky, young Pakistanis like me find it rather refreshing and promising. Pressure took over sanity, The match winner 3 days ago turned out to be the culprit, bowling delivered and batting failed. So many things to say but Bob should thank the heavens that the 160 million critics and analysts have something more new and exciting to comment on rather than the traditional old subject of cricket. 13 is not that unlucky after all!!!!!!

Comeon Bob!
You could have come up with better reasoning. Last 5 overs went for 58 and we were reasonable. I said before that Rana is in team because he knows how to get in team without performing.
You will have no answer for Yousuf and Inzamam's test match batting. They score 73 in approx 23 overs and Younis Khan giving Xmass gift. This team is just bits and pieces mediocres and I am ashamed to be supporter of this team.

Iam very disappointed with you i think you had ample time give pakistan team couple of solid openers, and you failed to provide that, so far ,i think your time is up.

I understand that the worldcup is not over yet and I do believe that pakistan will be in the semi finals for sure!!! no doubts about that. I think malik and hafeez should open batting followed by the three 3 greats, then akmal. I think for bowling we should open with gul and rao followed by arafat and azhar with kaneria/afridi. Thats paks best eleven i think.....we are still counting on u bob to reach the finals!

really disappointing....What was the logic in bowling first after winning the toss despite the fact that power hitters were not playing.
Why Naveed is in the team instead of the recent crap performances? He has been terrible in SA and is one of the most expensive bowlers of pak. I rated u very high as coach but not anymore...Tell me a single problem of Pak team which u have solved.

Well Bob, it hurts us even more here in Pakistan. We stayed up till 4am to watch our batters commit blunder after blunder chasing a small total. Maybe Malik should open again, he gets big 100's from 1,2 and 3 - and he looks the best Pakistani batsman out there at the moment. On a side note, realistically how can you ever win with 10 players playing for you, and 12 for the opposition? Didnt you know, Rana Naveed plays for the opposition, he was South African a few weeks back and now he's West Indian! Please spare us Rana Naveed! Bring Sami into the equation..and let's all hope the next time we all stay up till 4am in the morning, our guys give us something to stay up for. Take Care Bob.

Well every body know that in 1992 we lost to this same team by 10 wickets in the opening match.
But the question is that do we really have enough courage character to come back strong again. We were supposed to have a weak bowling attack, which did well to its capacity ( you cant ask more from this bowling combination), but the thing which hurts is the failure of batting. In the build up to the world cup, nobody mentioned the worries of batting except the openers. And openers lived to the expectations of failing, the rest of the middle order which is supposedly our strongest link, failed to deliver at the crucial stage. All the senior players have to share the blame, especially younis.
I sincerely hope that in the next matches the team will learn from its mistake and show some fighting spirit, so that if they even lose the match, that dont hurt as it does for the lack of effort.

Mr. Woolmer,

I am a big fan of your coaching methods,strategies and tactics including the earpiece which you brought on to the field. Anyways, Mushtaq Ahmed was right on the fact that Pakistan started winning late in the 1992 world cup. But, I think, the had a different captain then and a different set of players. They had legends in the team. You might counter argue saying that Wasim Akram, Rameez Raja, Javed Miandad and ofcourse Imran Khan were not legends from the word go. Look at the current crop of Pakistani players and I see only two legengs. Mohd. Yousuf and Inzi. And Inzi is not a captain of the caliber of Imran Khan. Imran could rejuvenate his side and get his hands on the trophy. Inzamam is a great batsman. Accepted! But he has never been able to get his side together and fight as a single unit. Never! Consistency is another question Pakistanis have always been plagued with. I have a couple of questions to ask you. Why was Afridi dropped? He would have been more than handy in that wicket. Instead of Kaneria atleast. Kaneria is a good bowler who has been underplayed. But Afridi is a clear match winner. He can decimate any attack single handedly. His bowling on that wicket would have been better than Knaeria. And his fielding is outstanding. Im sure he doesnt throw the bowl on top of the keepers head, atleast, when the batsmen are showing no intentions of taking a run. My second question is, why not mohd. sami? He is a wicket taking bowler. And when he takes wickets, I have generally noticed, he instills a certain doubt and fear in the batsman's mind. He is sharp and he is quick. Rana is a burden you are carrying. He might be good once in a while. But Sami is clearly better than him in the bowling department at least.
You have limited resources. Asif is missing and so is Razaq. Im not a big fan of Akthar because, even though he is a match winner, he is not disciplined enough and in cricket discipline is of utmost importance. More important than individual talent and sheer brilliance. Pakistan will make it to the super eights. No doubt! But in the super eights, consistency will be the key. You and Inzi personally will have to do something about that aspect-"consistency" in order to even hope of reaching the semi finals. You have to rejuvenate this team in order to instill the hope in the minds of these players. Im sure you are doing a great job. Please drag Inzi along too.

It clearly is not the number 13.

13th might be a bit unlucky. before i open up with the loads of critisizm, and have you pissed off, I would only say the below:

winning against ireland and zimbabwe is certainly needed, but in case there's an upset - a minnow team defeating the major team - what you need is a good net run rate. In case pakistan loses at the hands of one of the minnows, that team has to have lost to the other minnow if west indies sweep the group. then with three teams stuck at 1W-2L, NRR would be the key.

Or on the other hand, if West Indies get struck by an upset, Pakistan has to win the remaining two games at all the costs. The minnow team beating the W.I has to beat the other minnow team as well in order two have three teams stuck at 2-1. NRR will then be looked at to pick the better two.

Inzi and co. would have to give the NRR real importance.

And you, mr. bob are the person who should advise accordingly.

Good Luck

Well Bob, the problem was the openers again but more worryingly the lazy partnership between pakistans best two batsmen inzy and yousuf was very frustrating to watch.ThE amount of times they could have turned ones into twos but they didnt due to inzys laziness.The bowling was preety good apart from rana who is in terrible form and should not be playing, HINT HINT, azhar mahmood should be in.

Hi Bob 13th was really disappointing It wasn't a big total and I think Pakistan should has got it easily the only consolation is that we started similarly in 1992, but the big difference is at that time we had Imran as leader now Inzi

At least Imran and Younis have a chance to turn their switch to the ON position now. "We do well in adversity" is the call of the moment.

Hi Bob,
Can u pls explain why Rana or Danish was given preference over Azhar Mahmood , when we were supposed to replace Razzaq and Afridi.
Need ur answer please....???

Don't expect sympathy from me, Bob. I think Pakistan are the worst prepared ever for a World Cup. I don't know what you have been doing with the team for the past four years.

No openers, No backup batsmen, No fast bowlers (in Pakistan no less!!).

An absolute shambolic selection of misfits with the hope of a nation on their shoulders. What possessed you to select Rana for the WC squad? And Kaneria as an ODI player? Please! He barely manages to take wickets in tests! (And that too after bowling a 100 overs for 2.)

It's nothing to do with 13, Bob. I hold you and the PCB personally responsible for turning this WC into another farce, same as 2003.

I don't know Bob, it's a tough phase we're going through. Everything's just going wrong- from injuries to inconsistency. I know there's nothing you can do about it. On top, there must be the constant mockery presented to you guys from the media.

I just hope you guys click in time, and make it to the super eights in time.
There is something even bigger than success. And that is self respect. I hope you guys fight enough for that.

If you're not hard enough to endure defeat; you can't be worthy enough to deserve victory.

- A.K

Bob, from where we stood, the WI bowling didn't look all that devastating- look at the shots played by Hafeez, YK, and MoYo. We really made it more difficult than it should have been and it again shows the mental toughness that is needed to win and sadly that we continue to lack.
1992 has been overly used as a source of motivating us. All the stars aligned that year, and while they could again, we really need to take matters in our own hand. I am actually quiet amuzed that you are now worrying about beating Zim and Ireland "both" in order to make it. Bob, I hope that is the least we can expect from the team and its not something that is going to keep you up at night.

I am not of the opinion that Rana should be dropped. But you surely know that he is a much better bowler with the older ball so why do we insists on starting with him? why cant he come 1st or 2nd change. With all due respect what is the coach doing to improve the technique / footwork of Imran Nazir in particular and the entire teams' problem with the pull shot. I am sorry to say that I do not see any improvement in this team in the last four years. I hope we are a better team in the next world cup. Keeping my fingers crossed to at least make it to Super 8.

A disappointed diehard fan of the Pakistan team.

Why do we keep playing Rana Naveed as he is not consistant and always seems to be on the expensive side of things....not happy with this choice...Another one is Kamran Akmal and his beauitiful "0" way to go and can't believe that he is playing with this performance...good luck pakistan... you have no where to go but home after the first round.... being a Pakistani that's what I have to say...

I guess the batting line-ip wasn't so impressive, was it Bob?
Well, hopefully the team will put up a good performance in the remaining matches in the group.

I have no doubt that we got a skillful team. But the problem is when they use only their skills, not their brains. Just looked at Hafeez's shot. Pakistan required less than 5 runs per over and why he went to hit that stupid shot. Answer is no brain! I would recommend some changes even though it is not my business. Danish is not a one day player at all. Rana is a morale problem for team now. And i dont want sami either. He is another skillful player without brain. Please give a chance to Arafat and Azhar. Once afridi is back, drop Azhar. Just suggestions and my two cents -:)

I was reading another article of yours and in that article you have said, I quote: "Our game against Ireland will be a tough one as they have proved that they are one of the best equipped of the Associate sides and are very keen and well-organised. There will be no easy games in this World Cup."
I, sometimes feel that your mindset is too negative to be a coach. You say the same sort of things before every game. Why don't you say something positive like we will give them a beating of a lifetime. You have a care free attitude towards Pakistan. It's strange that you see the funny side of (Danny's overthrow). The boys don't seem to have any confidence in whatever they do. If you can't teach them how to bowl, how to field and how to bat then atleast make them feel confident about what they have in them. Last but not least, you have got what you wanted, now it's time to say to you "Thanks for your time".

Respected Bob,

I am still very optimistic about our chances of progressing and doing well in this world cup.But some changes are now on the cards and require a bit of courage.I think if nazir fails in the next game, bring afridi back as the opener because he can make more runs,get more wicets and can equally field well.Rana should be replaced by sami as he adds a different dimension.i.e. extra pace.One last experiment is to test younis khan inplace of kamran akmal because his keeping has been dismal in one of the upcoming games so as to just give kami a jolt which is evitable otherwise same dropped catches and may be an other duck which may lead to further lack of confidence.

Best of Luck

regards,

Basit

Bob,

We got killed there, what were these guys thinking when they let WI pile that many runs. I don't think pak can really claim that their bowling is weak with the star players, I think the batting is in a worse situation because even with all the start batsmen in our team (except Razzaq and probably Afridi) we were not able to score such a low total. Why was Inzi defensive during batting, he should have gone after the weak WI bowlers, yes they were bowling well but I think we made them look better than they actually are. Inzi and youhana should have gone after them and that would atleast put pressure on those guys. I think Shoaib Malik's approach was best, if you're going to go down then atleast try to aim for an aggressive approach to overcome the situation because that boasts morale more rather than going on defensive and then losing the game as well. Hope we make it to the second round and not make the same mistake again.

Bob - bad luck yesterday. Hopefully the team can pick it up. Not trying to advise you on strategy here but wondering why there has been a sudden move away from havng Shoaib Malik at the top of the order post his injury. He did extremely well at number 3 when you first started coaching the side and has done pretty well at opener too, so given the issues at that position I would imigine you would be giving it a strong consideration. It would also open up another slot down the order for some added flexibility.

Mr. Woolmer,
It was very disappointing to see Pakistan lose the opening match to the WI. Time constraints and obligations did not allow me to see the entire match. A total of 242 was achievable. I do not feel that they pursued the target in a disciplined manner.
We all hope that Pakistan does well.Potential weaknesses that need to be rectified are
1. Lack of containment by some of the bowlers, in particular Rana and perhaps Kaneria.In the absence of Asif and Shoaib, the bowling lacked penetration. It was nice to see the part time spinners performing well.Rao bowled an accurate line and length and was duely rewarded. I think in subsequent games, Sami should be played in place of the out of form Rana.Once Afridi is back, he should play in place of Kaneria, who is a poor fielder and batsman.
2. The opening batting has remained a perennial problem. The batsmen are lacking in both technique and temprament. I do not see Pakistan advancing very far with our current openers. Younis Khan should open either with Inzimam or with Hafeez, who I believe is perhaps technically superior to other aspirants who play cross batted. Shoaib Malik is a determined competitor and should come at the #3 position. Yousuf, Nazeer, Hafeez and Afridi should follow.
3. Allrounders. We have some great talent with Afridi, A. Mahmood, Arafat, Shoaib Malik and Hafeez.
4.Fielding. Needs to improve significantly and quickly.
5. Captaincy. Inzimam must be aggressive, proactive and take the initiative whenever the opportunity arises. He should place aggressive fields and be open to suggestion from other senior colleagues. Could you also convey messages to him during the course of the games to galvanize him into action (drinks interval).

My team order will be
1. Younis Khan
2. Inzimam
3. Shoaib Malik
4. M. Yousuf
5. Imran Nazeer
6. Hafeez
7. Afridi
8. Arafat
9. Sami
10.Gul
11.Rao

Younis to keep instead of Akmal.
It just might just work! 4 fast bowlers, 3 spinners ,depth in batting and aggressive intent.
How can you go wrong? Good luck will favor the brave.
zamana

It was an expected result as in 3 years you havent been able to comeup with 1 solid opener, Salman Butt a correct opening batsman has been sidelined for reasons that are beyond comprehension since players like hafeez & Imran farhat as well as Nazir have been provided ample opportunities. Inzimam coming out at # 5 is not really called leading from the front. Shoaib malik could open better as he has been wasted at low down.

'We are very hurt by the negativity of a lot of the Pakistan media.' Hmmm. I am thinking about the positives from the first match.

yea, just get over the loss. i and all the fans would like to see improvement in the next match.

Don't Worry, If we are going to win this world cup, I think we are gonna have to peak at the right time, and not too early. Like the West Indies got their wake up call losing to India like that, Pakistan have to take heart, learn from this and use this defeat to inspire themselves to work hard and to get to the semis or at least beat India. One thing they should not do is listen to every X-player complaining about how bad they are doing.

Bob,

Can you please explain why do you keep playing Rana, when he literally sucks. Is team selection based on who prays with inzi and grows beard at the same time? Why would you leave Sami when he is the fastest bowler you got and who has everything to play for and to prove his critics wrong?

All we need to do is to be consistent on the field which bob woolmer has not brought while being a coach of this team. We still misfield and still drop catches just look at what younis and kaneria did yesterday. We still play bad shots and give away wickets e.g, younis khan. The way he got out yesterday was dispicible. This guy has tons of experience and to get out like that was unacceptable. Pakistan cricket team is not a full team and it seems like everybody plays for themselves and not for the country. Our openers are always under the pressure that they have to perform or they will be gone so they all play for themselves. Same goes for our bowlers too. All we need to do is after this WC, we should bring in players from U-19 and let them develop and build a chemistry among themselves and then they will be ready for 2011 WC. We have to stop adding and dropping players as it is absolutely not working and it has been proven for the last 4 years or so. Bob woolmer will do us a favor if he is gone after this WC because he is just wasting his and our time with his stupid explanations after every defeat.

Azhar

Without sounding like a stuck record, Rana should be put to pasture once and for all. Anyone (and I mean anyone!) is better than this guy. If batsmen can be dropped for lack of form so should bowlers. The PCB is responsible for selections, however the captain and coach can, and should include players in the final 11, that they feel give them the best chance of winning. Right now, all the sides Rana has played against are targeting his bowling. He is one of the weak links and has got to go.

Also, since both openers are not scoring, and have not done so in quite a few ODI's (since Nazir's flukey 77 in SA to be exact) how about dropping Nazir - retaining Hafeez - since he bowls well, and bringing up Younus as opener. He will at least try and last longer than Nazir (who it seems is incapable of learning). This will allow either of the remaining allrounders Azhar, Arafat or Afridi to bat below Malik or Akmal. Now this is not rocket science and in all probability, all permutations have already been discussed to death; however, IMHO this should be given due consideration. Identify those players who are in good form and play them, regardless of reputation. Rao is a perfect example - a bowler with no reputation but who is in reasonable form.

Hard loss especially after a great effort with the ball by Gul and Rao - Bob the batting seems to lack spark. Too bad Salman Butt isent here, I think a left hander would've been useful up the order. Anyway, best of luck for the next game - quick suggestion - Maybe its time to give Naveed 12th man duties and bring in Mohammad Sami for some extra pace - and perhaps bringing Shoaib Malik up the order? I think we should win the next 2 games but the real test would be in the super 8 and I just have a feeling that Malik is the kind of guy who relishes batting higher in the order where he can build an innings. Anyway, you know best Bob thats why you're the Coach so best of luck!

Bob, if you are part of the team that is selecting the players and choosing its batting order than there definitely needs to be alot of thinking done.

No matter how good rana naved ul hasan is at the end (he hasnt shown it for more than 10 matches) he seriously has to be considered for the axe. that is the only way players learn not just in cricket but every sport. When your part of a team, your not performing you have to be told that and action needs to be taken.

The batting order puzzles everyone, its been said for the past year that inzy or moyo have to go higher up the order. What the hell was shoaib malik doing at the ending?

I was impressed with Kaneria, he was very unfortunate to get hit that bad he was bowling beautifully his battle was an interesting one with Lara.

Where are Razzaq & Afridi when you need them?

Hi Bob,

Pakistan lost their first match in 1992 to WestIndies. Hope they rise back.

Pakistan v West Indies at Melbourne - February 23, 1992
Pakistan 220-2 (Rameez Raja 102*, Javed Miandad 57*) (50 ov); West Indies 221-0 (Desmond Haynes 93*, Brian Lara 88 rh) (46.5 ov). West Indies won by 10 wickets.

RC

It seemed to me that our batting did not have enough depth, when we lost 3 early wickets inzy and yousuf were not sure how to play the innings, they did not have the luxury of knowing there were still batter to come. This caused them to play very restrained innings and it was difficult for us to step up the pace which was needed after around 25 overs! We need to Drop Imran Nazir, get our main 3 batsmen batting up the order and also play Azhar or Yasir so the tail is not too long.

With all due respect to the players, fix these selections and make our captain be a captain and try opening. I've waited for years for a Pakistan world cup, I'm not giving up hope but please please please fix this.

Well I demand a little more from u as a coach. I really think that u may need to change the batting order a bit. Let Imran and Shoaib open, both are quick between the wickets. Please teach this team the value of singles. Only then can we win matches. I would have played with Sami instead av Rana Naveed and Yasir instead of Danish. We need good feilders like Imran and Shoaib.

come on BOB accept ur mistake, it was a pathetic performance to say the least, i stayed awake till 3 at night and wat i saw was ugly. just look at their dismisals. look at imran nazir and hafeez dismisals. look at the ugly shot attempted by younis khan, he was trying to be a super PONTING by playing a pull to a ball well outside off stump. inzamam is the most unexplainable case, look at his dismisal, why does he always have to play with his leg? why doesnt he play with his bat? Anil Kumble gets him lbw often. Now i know why he doesnt come up the order because he is affraid to bat at that number and doesnot have the technique to cope with it, thats y he is sacrificing the young guys. look at the out of sorts kamran akmal, he got out the 1st ball, what is the point playing him anymore? what was the purpose of playing kaneria? hafez and malik bowled better than him. azhar shoud have played, and please give rana naveed a rest and play sami.

One could also remind the Pakistani players that whenever we open a World Cup against the West Indies, its a sign of good things to come (92 and 99 World Cup)

Let us hope that it is the same again.

Bob please admit you got your team selection wrong. Pakistan has always been a batting tail team in last years to win. With almost certian opening problem and chasing difficulties, what was the logic of playing four bowlers none of whom can score runs of the willow. Why is the bias against Azhar Mehmud? I know Rana is your pet, but then if Azhar is not the same bowler, he is for sure not worse than Rana at its present form! You needed a bowler who skids the bowl and that was Sami. You should have known this if you know something about Sabina Park. I know my voice doesn't matter and there are many other things I want to inquire about and suggest but forget it.

Bob please admit you got your team selection wrong. Pakistan has always been a batting tail team in last years to win. With almost certian opening problem and chasing difficulties, what was the logic of playing four bowlers none of whom can score runs of the willow. Why is the bias against Azhar Mehmud? I know Rana is your pet, but then if Azhar is not the same bowler, he is for sure not worse than Rana at its present form! You needed a bowler who skids the bowl and that was Sami. You should have known this if you know something about Sabina Park. I know my voice doesn't matter and there are many other things I want to inquire about and suggest but forget it.

Hey, buddy, the performance was awful. THe only positive from that game would be our bowling. Our batting lacked confidence, Shoaib Malik was an exception. I have no clue as to what Younis khan was thinking while trying to play that hook. Mohammed Hafeez needs to be dealt with, Imran nazir since he's on the team(Yasir Hameed should've been in his place), should learn to stay at the crease LONGER then a couple of mins. Naved ul-hasan, needs to be given a good rest, i believe at this time, Sami is a better choice. Inzi, i respect him a lot, but he needs to be fielding with passion, as if we're playing against india. Wish ya'll the best. Can't wait for afridi to come back. !!!!Don't make the mistake of leaving Rao out of the 11, he can bowl, and is pretty descent with the bat!!! Don't forget, we've only played one game so far.

I would say there was more to it than just bad luck. The planning was at fault. Accustomed to long batting orders, this was an anomalous lineup. Why wasn't Azhar Mahmood in it? Especially since batting resources were scarcer still given Afridi's ban. Has the team management concluded that Azhar doesn't feature in your strategy, or are you guys open to options?

Hi Bob,
Many of us are not going mad over the fact that we lost, that happens. The only thing that's really troubling is Inzamam's habit of upping the required run rate. No doubt he's a great batsman, but he must keep the run-rate in check, he can't js keep leaving things till the end, where he mostly gets out and some one is asked to score at 7+ runs an over.

well no.13 might be unlucky but dis performance had nuthin to do wid luck,i agree our fieldin waz above average(for once) but bowling,batting n ofcourse the captincy of inzi made up for it!:@.for starters the way he chnged the bowlers was pathetic.while pakistan was batting when two players got out so early he shud hav had gone him self instead of sending yousuf!he is a senior player n he shud hav had been out der taking the pressure n sum responsibility.he backs off,dis means hes telling his tht hes given up!!all ex-senior players hav been constantly pointing out tht he shud b playin in 4 position,its useless for a player of his caliber to play in tht position.b'cux by the time he cums out to bat,already 3 players r in the pavilion.he shud cum at either 3 or 4 so tht he can hold the pakistani innings 2gather.n y cant pakistan giv an over-all gud performance like other big teams??when will v stop "experimenting" n start with the results?westindies perfomed well,thtz another case,but when v play the minor teams v win but not as convincingly as others.why is tht?and another thing,y r all the pakistani players always lookin so tired??b it in fielding or during batting,dey hav dis tired expression on der face!!y is tht?arnt dey fit??look at other teams..ricky pointing recently against england made a century in austrailia,he waz sweating like ne thin.but dnt use a runner n was present on the field for whole of 50 overs....y cant our players b tht fit?who eva makes a score of 75 above doesnt bother cumin out for fieling.y??again i ask u..arnt dey fit?dun even 1 of em has enough stamina den a 32 year old??

it is early days

good luck in remaining games '
Remember what Nietche
(sp) said

"What does not kill you can only make you stronger

Cheers

it was an important game but dont worry about it learn your mistakes and concetrate on your game plan and be B+ hope so you will find good result.

Half the game is won on paper, that is, a strategy before the team goes on the field.

For heavens sake, send your best bastmen (Yousuf and Inzi) at #3 and #4. We cannot solve our opener dilemma, but we should avoid a further crisis when we lose our openers.

The obvious choice is to replace Rana with Sami. Kaneria will strike eventually, as long as he doesn't carried away with over-excitement and overthrows.

Don't move Shoaib Maliik - he comfortably scores runs at his current position.

Here's an idea - replace Kamran Akmal, give wicket keeping to Younis, and bring in Azhar Mahmood (or someone else).

bob
13 might be unlucky but i think the team which was sent in was also weak.it was the first game and both teams where shaky. rana eased the pressure right at the beggining of the match and i clearly saw the west indians absorbing the pressure of gul and releasing it in ranas overs. hence got a reasonable start. sami was much better choice for me unless he has injury problems. i would have preffered azher over rana to give some batting depth. i believe we need to make our mind wehter we want to strenghten batting or bowling. we went in this match with four bowlers. four special bowlers in todays one days format might win u a match but our bowlers which r good but not great maybe not be able to achieve it.the only choice we have is to strenghtne the batting play around all rounders.for me that is our only hope. i would have thought that with batting till no nine. even if w i made 260 we might have got the runs.if due to some freak reason inzy cannot play up the order then shoab malik and hafeez can swap places.this is not a bad choice. i hope that they do well in the upcoming matches...but i fear that when the heat will be on our team will be undercooked....since alot of changes will be made and they maynot be able to develop as a unit. we will be very lucky to be even in the fifth spot.

Hi Bob,
I along with the rest of my compatriots are terribly disappointed in the lack of effort and unified spirit that Pakistan continues to display. That is about the only thing they do consistently. I dare say it that this consistent inconsistency is more of a product of poor leadership and coaching than innate talent. You my friend are a terrific coach and Inzy a terrific cricketer but somehow this combination is uninspiring and most importantly unsuccessful. How can you and Inzy both be satisfied with the performances and not be riled up? There is a hint of apathy in your last couple entries. You have to realize that you are paid to coach Pakistan. Please do just that starting from Inzy. Despite my criticisms, i support you all the way. Best of luck!

Bob, come on, let's admit it... u haven't had the best of luck throughout previous World Cups with other teams; this side is quite blaring worse than all of them. So, no worries if you don't make it to the semis or even Super 8... the ppl don't expect the team to progress but do ask the boys to show some commitment, some vigour on the field... hell even canada's shown that today. I won't end by saying "best of luck" 'cause it wud be a futile exercise... like I said: luck doesn't always side by ppl writing blogs on cricinfo!

Again a lame excuse from the coach.I would just like to know from Mr Woolmer that if 13 was unlucky for Pakistan and problem was in the date than how westindies( a team even more unconsistent than Pakistan) managed to secure a spectacular win.
I think the problem was not in the date but it was the playing stale of Pakistan which cause them a loss. It is the duty of the coach to make a strategy for victory but Pakistan was playing without any startegy as it was evident from there performance.
My request to Mr BOB is that please It is your duty to make a strategy and i don't understand the purpose of a coach who is unable to convince captain(Inzamam) to bat up in the order at no 4.
I am in full agreement of MUSHY saying that Pkistan started winning in 92 when there was no option left to loose a match and i am also not unhopeful from this team becasuse of its talented individuals who can demolish the opposition on their day as it was evident from Shoaib Malik's innings.
So only i have to say that
GO PAKISTAN GO PAKISTAN.... Open Your Heart Because You have to win the hearts of 160 million Pakistanis.

Hmm interesting!! nah im only kidding Bob. Just a quick question. With team selection who is it that decides the final outfit? Does the captain have his way or do you all deliberate on the choices?.
thanks

Bob I dont know if you were a spinner in your career but you can sure put a good spin on the situation not a bad thing though to move forward.Pakistan played well in the first half but some shots played were pathetic speciialy by top three players.Pakistan has a challenge how to get 8 batsmen that they are used to and also have kaneria which means playing with only two pacemen unless we want to drop hafeez for Azhar.I believe in super eight at least 3 other teams will also be in same situation and six games to go we should not loose heart but quickly develop a balanced and effective team
Ahmad

There has to be a winner and loser and west indies played well. Us the pakistani fans were so very dissapointing in the efforts of the pakistan team . In order for us to play to our full potential a few changes need to be implemented imediately.

1. Rana needs to be dropped , I cannot emphasize this fact enough , he has been off form for a while now and has become a liability , he is not taking wickets and has become very expensive , he needs time to work on his game , Bob please drop him

2. put our best batsmen up the order, we need to expose our best batsmens early to give em time to get settled and score big runs , they need to step up and shoulder the responsibility , if you dont want to open with the big 3 then please consider Malik to open.

3. we need 4 seamers, 3 seamers were obviously not enough and pakistan have traditionally played with 4 seamers which is what there accustomed to , we need Azhar Mahmmod or Yasir Arafat as seam bowlers who can bat

4. add depth to our batting , Nazir should be replaced his too inconsistent and doesnt have the required technique to bat at the top of the order, Kaneria weakens both the batting and fielding and since we have 3 spinners who can bat in the team , there really isnt a need for him

Pakistans best current 11 :-

1. M.Hafeez
2. Y.Khan
3. M.Yousuf
4. Inzi
5. S.Malik
6. S.Afridi
7. K.Akmal
8. A.Mahmood
9. M.Sami
10. R.Iftikhar
11. U.Gul

Bob Woolmer no doubt you are an excellent coach and have worked miracles with this pakistani team in the past , i jus hope you can work another miracle , I wish you and the pakistan team all the best

Yeah, Mushy is right, although it's not reason to believe that the result would be the same as 1992. The West Indies are a dangerous side, just like the Pakistanis, because of their unpredictability. They have beaten the Aussies twice last year, which is a clear evidence of that. Pakistan did not play well enough to deserve the win, although I was really impressed with Rao's bowling. Imran Nazir needs to prove himself better than he is doing now as an opener, otherwise I think we might have to promote Younis and hafeez to the job, and have Afridi at 6 after shoaib at 5. I must say i was a little disappointed by yousuf and inzamam after a steadying they could not continue and got out together to leave pakistan in considerable disarray. Shoaib Malik without Afridi or razzaq could not have done it alone for Pakistan and that how it ended. having kaneria bowl to lara was a brilliant idea and I am impressed with his attacking bowling. Kaneria, Gul and Iftikhar should be in every 11 we start with.

Dear Bob,
It must be tough om you. How about trading your job with mine? I am the best arm chair critic the world has never seen.

Sorry Bob, We (Pakistan) do not look to have any intention of reaching Worldcup Semis, in fact we seem like to be taking down one or two teams with us, acting like a filter!

Just wanted to know how much statistical analysis you do when you make decisions in the team. I was just looking up some stats on cricinfo... turns out Younis Khan averages about 26 when batting at No. 3, while Shoib Malik averages 40 at the same position. I know that doesn't tell the whole story, but Younis khan has been frankly terrible ... in the last 14 innings (from the match against Scotland onwards, including England tour, ICC trophy, and away to SA, he has played only 3 innings of note (55, 101 and 93)... all other scores are 25 or less. my recommendation: shoib malik is being wasted at 6. he's a far better ODI player than younis. swap their positions for the next match.

Bob: While we all appreciate the effort you and the Pakistani team are putting into this world cup campaign the players really have to start to perform now.

And by perform i not only mean with the bat and ball but also in implementing a successful strategy. You more than anyone know that in ODI cricket a progressive style of captaincy is needed but unfortunately Inzamam only seems to display a reactive style of captaincy and this will really hurt Pakistan as changes made after the damage has been done will be a case of too little too late. He doesn’t seem to be using his bowlers at the right time and this was evident in the loss to the West Indies.

I would also urge the consideration of playing Imran Nazir. With all due respect to him he does not seem to portray any of the attributes a successful and consistent opener needs more to the point Pakistan need to utilise Shoaib Malik more effectively. I would propose a move to have Shoaib Malik opening alongside Mohammed Hafeez. Shoaib Malik has opened in the past in both formats and has been successful as well and has shown good temperament to succeed.

The above move will also open the way for an inclusion of another bowler or all rounder and perhaps given Pakistan a much more balanced side.

Hi, I do believe WI bowled disciplined and our batting line up was not upto its mark but at no time should we consider the bowling effort and feilding to be anything of a high calibre. The support effort lacked in first attack and Sami pace was missed. Secondly i couldnt figure why we dont york initially. Sarwan had his toe fractured in Pak and in his mind i am sure it was there when facing Gul, his forward aggression to meet ball could have been checked by bowling him one or two off yorker. Feilding is always a chronic issue and should be reasoned out. I belive the opening pair beligerance should happen once they survive the initial burst. For any attack trying to maintain a line, the best policy is to fatigue them by their failure to remove you.
Now the next matches, Irish gave quiet a tough time to S A, plzzz take them extreemly seriously as it is a team which can upset. Zimb was a test playing nation and their young team has genes to progress back to the big club, take Both Extreemly seriously and i have the confidence that they are being taken soo under the current management.
Best of luck and plan ahead.
regards
Ali Akram

I would strongly suggest to use the same team minus Rana for the rest of the two matches. Sami should be in for Rana. Kaneria should have been allowed to attack and Yousuf shouldn't have played that aweful shot. Past is past, I am sure that Pakistanis are behind their team and their coach.

Best of luck.

Cheers!

I think its just the start of the tournament and we should be hopeful of future success.Bob wish you and the Pakistani team lots of good luck.

Bob thats really humble for you, but we could have done better why we need a keeper like Akmal though younis can do the same job i.e. drop difficult chances and not collecting balls properly. and then you can open with him and put one extra man in you squad

Better luck next time but you seriously have to be thinking about replacing Rana with Azhar. Rana is not having the best of times and Pakistan need some batting depth. Our tail seems longer than most teams with 4 specialist bowlers. We shouldn't have replaced the spinners at the end especially when Danish gave away only 3 runs in his last over. I felt the momentum shifted due to 2 overs from Rana and they scored 241 when they should have had 220. Contrary to what South Africans hope this is a spinner's worldcup.

Bob! The team has a few shortcomings. The opening is weak, and there is no one to finish big. I have a few recommendations - I'm sure you get a lot of these, but hear this out.
Try Shoib Malik at 3. His temperament is suited for that position. Let Younis and Inzamam bat at their usual position, and let Younis Khan bat no 6. His experience will be better suited to shepherd the team home in tight run chases. As for the opening slot, I still think you should persist with Kamran Akmal on the top, with Imran Nazir (though not my first chioce opener) take the opening slot. They can both play aggressively, and thats what you need in the power plays. Hafeez can play as an allrounder at no 7, as he has shown he is well adept at. Please! drop Rana Naved. He has served Pakistan well, but his current form does not warrant a place in the team. Umar Gul and Mohd Sami should spearhead the attack with Rao Ifthikar providing seam support. Shahid Afridi is a wild card, and playing him at no 8 or picking Kaneria as a bowling option on a turning wicket should be a judgement call made on the day after looking at the wicket. Considering the low confidence our batting showed in the last game, I would include Shahid Afridi as soon he is available to play.
I know Pakistan can still come back from this, and make their presence known in the tournament. Good luck.

Bob! The team has a few shortcomings. The opening is weak, and there is no one to finish big. I have a few recommendations - I'm sure you get a lot of these, but hear this out.
Try Shoib Malik at 3. His temperament is suited for that position. Let Mohd Younis and Inzamam bat at their usual position, and let Younis Khan bat no 6. His experience will be better suited to shepherd the team home in tight run chases. As for the opening slot, I still think you should persist with Kamran Akmal on the top, with Imran Nazir (though not my first chioce opener) take the openning slot. They can both play aggressively, and thats what you need in the power plays. Hafeez can play as an allrounder at no 7, as he has shown he is well adept at. Please! drop Rana Naved. He has served Pakistan well, but his current form does not warrant a place in the team. Umar Gul and Mohd Sami should spearhead the attack with Rao Ifthikar providing seam support. Shahid Afridi is a wild card, and playing him at no 8 or picking Kaneria as a bowling option on a turning wicket should be a judgement call made on the day after looking at the wicket. Considering the low confidence our batting showed in the last game, I would include Shahid Afridi as soon he is available to play.
I know Pakistan can still come back from this, and make their presence known in the tournament. Good luck.

Hi Bob,

I have always appreciated the stability you have brought to the Pakistan team, which is a rare thing indeed, but I have a question for you. What good did you think your statement would do when you said that Pakistan couldn't beat this team or that team? Do you think it is going to have a positive effect on the team to know that even their coach doesn't think they are capable of winning? Is it not going to give "those" teams a psychological advantage?
It's all good to be honest and all that, but the next time you feel the urge to eat that humble pie please do it in private. I think you have the brains to do that.

Apart from that I think you have been the best coach Pakistan had in the recent memory.

Hey Bob,
It was disappointing to read your Unlucky theory and quoting Mushi referring to 1992. I understand this blog is not the forum to discuss strategy but least we expect from you guys to mention the mistakes committed, what went wrong.
The last 5 overs hammering or the negative approach of the batsmen. Was it that we took un-neccessary pressure on our own while chasing the target or some not that excellent captaincy tricks in the middle. The comfort with which Malik batted was easy to demonstrate our top 3 how to cope with the situation.
Anyways, we expect a more professional performance in coming matches as well as avoiding of such excuses from person of your stature.
Best of Luck
Adeel

Perhaps you can choose Mohammad Sami based on his pace. Pakistan's pace definitely lacked the firepower and can you please explain the reason d'etre behind playing 4 bowlers and only few specialist batsmen. Given Akmal's record against WI he could have opened. As we know Inzamam can be LBW or runout before he is even set. So we just didnt have the batting depth. I cant accept the fact that WI played good cricket. Lets not forget Bangladesh can beat WI on their current form. Given their dismal display ( i.e. a meager total of 85 they managed against India showed they dont have the class to win against the real Pakistan side). Without Afridi and Razzaq it just didnt have the batting depth and i still cant understand why an all rounder wasnt picked and 3 specialist bowlers should do the bowling. Hafeez and Shoaib Malik can do their 20. I suggest against the minnows you have some batting depth otherwise you face an early exit ... an unceremonious and undignified early exit. Bangladesh could have chased 241 that day.

Bob: we need to drop Rana Naveed and play Azhar Mehmood. We let the West Indian tail-enders off the hook and 41 run in 4.3 overs were expensive.

keep on making the same mistakes over and over again and maybe Pakistan will loose from Ireland too.

Though best of luck to the team ...

Oh by the way, it was never an above average performance. Naveed-ul-Hassan was too busy taking the pressure off the west indies (as he usually does now) that Umar Gul (I must appriciate the performance of Umar Gul ... truly delightful was he) created and Kaneria isnt comming out as good as he promised is his statements. I remember him whining about not including him in the team and how he improved his feilding ... thats what came to mind when I saw him throw a ball over Kamran Akmals head for 4 runs.

All said about Pakistan's bowling and fielding efforts, 241 was still however not a massive total and a team with players like Inzimam, Mohd. Yousuf (both I personally believe were too slow ... i fell asleep watching the both of them laze around), Younis Khan, Imran Nazir and Shoiab Malik (probably the only one we can be proud off when it came to batting) ... should have under any circumstance produced atleast atleast atleast more then 200 on that pitch ...

You cant put anythign on the number 13 ... it had nothing to do with the defeat ... somthing is wrong with the nerves of our players ... seemed like pressure got to them ... and thats probably the only reason why our openers never get to stay at the crease for more than the first 10 overs. because they have wrecked nerves and wobbly feet.

In the end I am sure you know all of this ... but you are at a very important place and my being a pakistan am very depressed and disapointed ... dont worry I still back you guys ... praying for the best ...

We loose again and I agree with some of the other comments that we didn’t put up the fight. Let me express myself and then I will put some suggestions. First of all the team should try to loose against Ireland or Zimbabwe so they can get out of the westindies because if they get to super eights they will be thrashed by the real teams likes of India , Australia , south Africa etc as our bowling is rubbish. So it will be more embracing to loose all the six matches in super eights compared with dropping out at the group stage.

Now what the hell MR RANA doing in the team he shouldn’t be in A team of Pakistan
Replace him with Sami at least he can deliver yorkers . Imran Nazir what a great batsman we all know he is a child he has not matured even 1 % in last 8- years (I think) kick him out and bring in Azhar. Open with Shoiab and Hafeez and send Azhar at number 5. and I don’t know with kaneria ….. alright give him another game lets see.
I hope Mr. Bob will read this …. We should not include Afridi in the team if he want to bat at # 5 . you cant have a player like Afridi at # 5 it doesn’t make any sense ya ya we know he played a good knock in third ODI against SA but at that time we were not chasing and all the batsman had played a good innings so there was no pressure on him. I don’t remember a single game when afridi produced a match winning inning at no 5
( condition: we were chasing and under pressure) if we are playing him he should open with malik and hafeez should be at #5

Hmm….. I think I have solved the problem 

Finally thanks to malik what a great knock he saved us from a total embarrassment MALIK you are a gem

May Allah help Pakistan to get to S 8 ….
And may Allah save them from complete thrashing
OH NO we have to play India in S 8 Oh GOD not the fifth time please

Hi, Bob share with inzi

There is nothing unlucky about # 13, but the loss with West Indies should not become bigger and team mate should only review it critically and be ready for the next encounter.

My suggestion to you all do not think about the world cup now, just take each match sepearely and no match should be taken lightly. Each match should be played as if it is against Australia. Once the goal becomes nearer and misktake are addressed continuously, the result will start looking great.

InshaAllah every thing will be all right and fine, my support will always be there even when we loose.

Good Luck

Asif khan

My only request to you Bob (if this message reaches you) is that please have Inzamam come up the order at 3 or 4. Its high time he leads from the front especially when an early wicket falls!

And for God's sake please give Rana a break! Get anyone, Azhar, Sami or Arafat but please dont play this guy anymore. He is the biggest liability you have right now!

We may have lost the first game, call it being unlucky, or coming up against a decent West Indian bowling performance, or whatever else. But there is a long way still to go in this tournament!

Time for Team Pakistan to take the loss as a final wake up call and show what its made of! This team supposedly is less talented than the Pakistani World Cup teams of yesteryears and given that that they are underdogs as such, they have nothing to lose!

Rise up Inzi, wake up Mo Yo, onwards Younis! Show the world what we already know you are capable of!

A nation hungers for your success in the Super 8s...we hope you show the same hunger yourselves!

Go Team Pakistan!!!

i see that no one has been bothered to post anything on this blog.
Usually there would be almost 100 posts in the first 1 hour but it seems like paki fans have given up hope. Considering the advantage of finishing first in a group, i wouldnt blame them.
it was a shame to see such a bright prospect for the world cup go down like they did against WI.
But c'mon paki's. if you are all such devoted cricket fans, this shouldnt make you lose interest in the world cup, a spectacular event held every 4 years.

if i was a Pakistani cricket fan i would jump on the indian or sri lankan bandwagon and pray to allah that the aussies dont get 3 in a row. Might seem ridiculous to some but think about it....can u handle another 4 years of Aussies bragging that they are unbeatable world champs who have been blessed with talent that no other team possesses??? give me a break please!!

Bob, All throughout your and Inzi's term, I have been a die-hard supporter and still am. I am not here to criticize or anything. I just want you to know that I was all excited before the first match as I was sure it would force all these people who critize you to shut up and go away. However, the batting performance really took everything out of me. I do not think the WI bowling or the wicket had anything to do with it. It was a good wicket and their bowling was average at best. The wickets of Hafeez, Younis, Nazir and Yousuf were gifted to them. In addition, the batting of the two senior most players did not make sense. Ricky Ponting and Symonds never played like that even though Australia were 4 down pretty early in their innings in the 2003 match we played against them. It was our own mistakes (and a lot of them). I am not here to give you any advice as I am not qualified enough for it. I just want you to know that I am really in a state of depression since I cannot say anything to these guys who are going after you and Inzi. I just hope we get into the next round and win some good ones so that these people just go away into their own shells and have to eat their own words. Please urge the team to value their wickets, there is a lot riding on it i.e. the hopes and aspirations of a whole nation. And please ask the team to help us supporters answer these people who are opposed to you guys. We do not expect to win the WC every time (winning it is a bonus) but all we want is for everyone to put up a good fight and I will be happy even in losing. That is all I have to say.

Don't worry Bob - I just hope, that if we go down, we go down fighting. Good Luck for the next two games.

Embarrasing performance. This team lack the desire of winning. Lazy Captain does not wanna take a 2nd run. If he is too old to run then why the heck he is still in the team.

Bob, I have no idea why you seem to be absolving Pakistan of blame for this loss. Windies did not win this match, we lost it. How can you not comment on the mediocre shots of Younis Khan, Mohd Hafeez, and Kamran Akmal? Either you have no idea what the hell is going on or you are not divulging the details of your knowledge. I hope that it is the latter, otherwise we are in bigger trouble than I thought...

Bob,

what happened dawg! I understand that we're lacking some players, but we seriously should have won that.

A couple of things to note, there is disagreement amongst people as to whether we bowled well or not. 241 might not sound like a booming score given the way the game is played today, but it was more than significant given the pitch. There wasn't too much seam movement, but there was bounce (yes, that horrible thing we can never play). Just look at how MOYO and Younis got out. Inexcusable but indicative.

If you're going to play Kaneria, he has to take wickets, and Big wickets. If his job was only to "contain runs" then he shouldn't be playing, our all-rounders-wanabe-batsmen can do that (no offence to Malik on this, he was probably the only player who fought). It's not his economy rate but his wickets that count.

I'm not going to go off on Rana, since I think it's obvious. Inzi might like the beard, but for god sakes, be practical.

Most importantly, I think we lost this game because of Inzi, MoYo, and Younis Khan. If you're going to bat at 3,4,5, pride yourselves in being the main batsman of such a fragile team, one of you better be standing when the 40th over is bowled. The way Inzi and MoYo were playing, it was essential they stay there. If there is any chance whatsoever of us doing well in this tournament, it depends on these 3 playing the majority of the innings, and setting the foundation for the guys below. Blame all you want on the top order, it's a problem that can be fixed this late. The big boys have to step up. Look at any world cup: 2003-Ponting, 1999-Waugh, 1996-De Silva, 1992-Imran/Miandad, 1987-Border; the big boys have to play. If these 3 don't realize that, start packing your bags already. This isn't a 3 mathc one day series, its a world cup. I hope our kids understand that amidst all the inshallahs and mashallahs.

Lastly, please make sure every ounce of energy these guys have is utilized in beating ireland and zimbabwae. Believe it or not, Saturday is the first elimination game for us this tournament. That must be respected.

Well we should stop being superstitious and concentrate on cricket. Our bowlers did a good job for most of the innings and fielded ok except for DANISH ofcourse.... but the initial 2 wickets were pathetic specially the shot played by Younis Khan ... Supposedly our future captain.... God save us...

Easy Laddie,

Any Chance Of telling Inzamam some lies and say So n So said this about your mum, you kow to make him go Psycho on the other team! Let him know that his laid back careful nurturing of his players phase is over, he has to let loose on them. If he doesnt...no one else commands the respect he does and it will be very embarrasing for Pak.

Im an optimist and I hope you stay with us after world cup...no matter the results Peace

Dear Bob,
Its nice one,blame the lost to number 13 :)
when two teams play,one have to lose so that the other can be a winner.This occasion we lost.But please remind the team that nothing is lost until HOPE is lost.So keep that flame of hope Burning.Tell the team not to worry about the depressing comments from the pakistani media and people.Onle ackowledge positive comments.By the grace of ALLAH we had to go a long way before qualifing for the semi final.
Here are a few suggestions:-
Let sami replace Rana for the next two matches,as the minnows will find difficult to negotiate sami's pace.
Azhar mehmood should play instead of danish.
Danish is a fine bowler but he is no shane warne at this stage of his career.
yousuf and inzi should bat at 3 and 4 position.
let imran and younis open the innnings.(younis is opening anyway,as the first wicket fell in first two overs.
All the best to you and Pakistan Team.
World cup in Ours INSHALLAH

Bob, WI played better than Pak and so they won. I am sure you have already done your analysis as well but apart from a bad # 13 here are a few things to consider

>> Rana with a new ball again ..? He is out of form and World Cup isn't really a venue to regain form. Please consider !
>> I haven't seen Kaneria putting in a great effort in One Days. With 2 allrounding spinners, why do we really need Kaneria ? Yes, he is a good bowler but he hasn't really proved himself in one days yet and even takes up a batting spot.
>> Azhar Mehmood, I believe put in a decent performance in SA. I was indeed surprised to see him sitting out in the first game. He easily replace Rana or Kaneria. This also gives us an extra batting/bowling option.
>> Rao looks good and for the first time I see him hungry to perform. Hand him a new ball with Gul and we probably have a real good potent attack.
>> Imran Nazir. How much learning does he need ? This is again not an avenue to practise your skills. This is an avenue to perform. He needs some hard lessons from the coach and captain. Very disappointing indeed. Please tell him that. He is wasting his talent by not putting his mind properly into his game.

Pak aren't cornered tigers anymore. This is 15 years past that era. You want to get something .. go and get it. This is how you win and Pakistan needs to understand that. Pak should feel the hunger for this cup and it isn't showing in their game yet.

I am confident that Inzi and You are doing the best you can and our prayers are with all of you. The team should understand that "God helps those who help themselves". Please don't waste our prayers. I don't care we win or lose but the fight should show and then even # 13 won't be an issue.

Good Luck Bob and Inzi. :-)

Was it just disciplined bowling effort by West Indies or poor batting by us that led to the defeat ? It really depends how quickly we get over this defeat and move on !!!

Dear Bob , THe article seems to have ended abruptly , probably some technical error at Cricinfo . Anyway , I want to tell you and the team to hang in there , we are an unpredicatble lot , but we should get through to the semis at least . And forget about the "critics" back home , they tend to attack as a mob and praise as a mob as well . You have done a good job so far , coaches have tough jobs as they are not playing on the field but have to cop a lot of the flak , mostly unwarranted
RGds
Siddiq

Well what Mushy believes if it's a Dejavu (losing the first match from WestIndies) of Worldcup 1992 then I pray if that would be true. But the difference that anyone can point out is the willingness to play. Current Pakistani has no enthusiasm at all. All they wanted is to have a luxurious tour to the Carribean with Sea, Sand and Sun.

i guess a lot of things have to go right to produce 92 again so far i have no comment nor a judgement on the pakistan team.

Bobi,
Be a coach, how can you call it a better then average performance? Batting collapsed like a pack of card. Bowling was erratic through out especially at the end. Fielding was pathetic like always and you still call it a better then Avg. performance.
Let me tell you, WI only had to perform Average to beat the below average, that is what it was. Believe me we are not going to perform well if we are not true to our self.
Put Sami in instead of Rana in the two games. This gives you a better attacking option. Use Kanaria in a better way. Inzi pls don’t change him when it’s not required. We all know he will give away runs, still use him as a attacking option. Come on boys we all know this bunch can perform better then what they have shown against WI. Best of luck.

Hi Bob, i just bought 42" Plasma and package cost me 180$.
please i am not asking for more. just super 8, please. i know u want S.A to win. but it will not hurt them or u if tell that fat 318 pounds capt of ours to win few games.
i work very hard. but may be next match i might have to pick my new tv and throw out of my house or put it out in my driveway for garbage people to pick it up.
please super 8 i request pakistan team from my heart please win next 2 games.
i love pakistan team.
i took days of from work.if pakistan dont go to super 8 i will lose all my days off.
please Bob, inzi pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

hope pakistan will gear up in remaining games but the main problem in pakistani side looks the opening pair. Selection committee has already made big mistake leaving Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed specially in West Indies conditions. If Pakistan can solve the opening problem then this team will be hard to beat. Then Bob u will be pleasing all Pakistani Cricket lovers rather cursing Number 13 yourself

I think the fortune of Pakistan team is not bad it is only the management that take part in the defeat of Pakistan. Nobody (Manager & Coach) advise batsmen to stay on pitch and progress steadily so we can not get such a ashamed defeat.

Running between wickets during the Inzi and Yousuf partnership was horrible at best. They both looked tired. There was no real effort to take the fielders on. Very diappointing to see the the top players consistently failing to improve this aspect of their game. I think this cost Pakistan the game. Winning and losing is part of the game but to beat top sides consistently we need to improve all aspects of our game and that include running well to keep the score ticking.

In '92 we had Miandad who kept the score ticking over and did not allows the pressure to build beyond the team to chase without taking undue risk. I don't see Yousuf or Inzi suitable to do that. Younus will have to do Miandad instead of trying to slog his way out of trouble. Let Inzi,malik,akmal score freely around Yousuf or Younus.

We need to have a game plan and players need to adhere to it.

During the first game Pakistan looked rudderless while batting. The top three got out playing very loose shots and rest with the exception of Malik went into an inexplicable shell.

Prepare a game plan, agree to it and stick to it. Anyone who does not adhere to it during play should be dropped immediately. Thats how you bring back consistency.

Bob what a clever man you are. Either you are very clever or whole world is a fool. You termed miserable, unplanned and direction less performance as unlucky. What do you mean by unlucky did you had couple of bad decisions against you or unlucky run out. Come one what on earth make you call this as unlucky. If you play bad cricket you have to lose and that was the only reality there no bad luck. Bob pakistan seemed to learnt nothing from you but you learnt at least to fabricate strange excuses for you defeat barvo.

Mr. Woolmer, I hold great respect for you, and I believe you to be a true advocate of our cricket team. There have been in the past and in present inconsistency in our team when it comes to big games owing to which the public/media offlate has not been positive. Umer Gul is going well. Rana needs to work a bit, otherwise he is a good replacement for Shoaib rather than the sought after Sami. Sami also need to get it out of his head that pace is not everything, unless you can mix is consistently with line and length :) Kaneria, one thing, you have potential, but you're not there yet.

Will somebody tell Kammy to snap out of it. His batting confidence and style was akin to Ricky Ponting. I don't think he should come too down the order.

The whole country is praying for you guys, but just prayers won't get you through.

I hope you are not trying to hide behind the "13th" Bob. Remember luck only favour those who work hard and honestely. Who try relentlessly and had a fire of passion burning in their bellies. And those who are mentally tough.

With all due respect Bob, and beleive me that Pakistani nation has a lot for you, but the pathatic display on 13th has left us all quite disgusted and dumbfounded upto the level that it is hard to find the words to discribe our frustration.

Being with us for years you should understand our trauma. Cricket appears to be our only lifeline we are hanging with. By nature we are emotional. Cricket is our passion and we just can't take this shit anymore. Dirty politics and corruption in PCB just like any other departement has ruined cricket and destroyed the talent in the country. We hoped that you for one would bring about some positive changes but we are standing right where we were four years ago at 2003 WC. We are hoping that one day when you would not be with us, you would answer the questions that who was responsible? was it the system? was it the PCB or the board officials? was it selection committe? was it the captain? or was it you yourself. And you have an obligation to answer the nation who gave you so much respect.

Thank God there is no grouping in the team at present but the performance is still lethargic.

We fail to understand why the new and superemely talented players from junior teams have not been given chance and nurtured when you still had time to do that, specially when the players you were working on were only consistant on giving pathatic preformances? We fail to understand why the measures have not been taken to discipline the players? We fail to understand why the selection was not fair? We fail to understand why the measures have not been taken and efforts have not been made to correct the technique of the palyers? we fail to understand why some shrink has not been hired to over come the psycological issues if some players had them?

Losing the game is something we can cope with but losing in this manner is very frustating. They did not show any gumption any fight at all. Why Rana Naveed is still in the team? Why the batsmen of worst record, tamperament and form are opening the inninigs or even in the team? Why are you wasting the best cricketer at the present time: Shoib Malik by sending him so low down the order where he cannot do much and his 50 odd runs are just meaningless? Why can't you send Shoib Malik as an opener or atleast at #3 so that he can help building the innings and also pace it according to the situation?
Why is that that W.Indian batsmen have continousely found the gapes in the field but every shot our batsmen have played went to the fielders?

Except Shoib Malik all the batsmen have batted like they had no itention to win the match. No sense of responsibility and no self respect and pride. Opposition was allowed to post 241 when they could be contained well under 200. We have just lost the killer instinct which have been our asset.

W.Indies have played well but you cannot change the fact that their team is a mediocre team and their game would be a lot different when they face the other quality teams as they have showed against India.

I can rant on and on but what is the use?

hi bob i hope u read the comments we post,
bob why u cant send malik in one down position from last two years he look like the best odi batsmenu have. send younis to open he is there any way in first over.pls replace hafeez with azhar, even his dream hafeez cant do what azahr can do with his left hand even he plays with right hand.hafeez paly 45 mathes with 19 or 20 runs averrage sir plz tell me how many matches does a player need to show he is good.look at malik this mate show us only one thing which u love "improvement"with every game experiance.
bob i know u will says what pakistani fans know about cricket but trust us our first word is not mom or pop but "whats a score?"

Bob.. i have no doubt in it that Bob has big role in build up of the current pakistan team. I hope that in future everything will go in favour of Bob.. best of luck

Bob Please do not try to make number 13 an excuse. It was not the March 13th which was unlucky for us; infact it was the June 17th (2004) when you were made the Coach. So please watch out for the next game it is on the "unlucky' date of 17th.

Nevertheless, when we lost to West Indies, it was March 14th morning already.

It was more down to poor shot selection and lack of urge to win rather than unlucky 13. The pitch had pretty much nothing for the bowlers yet the Windies bowlers put out their best effort and with great support from our middle order, they were able to defend a score which seemed pretty reachable, given the 300+ run-chases of the recent ODIs. It looked like the openers and Mr. Khan were just riding their luck to get on with the innnings and had no plan whatsoever to settle down, save their wickets and work around the score. The efforts from Inzi and Malik show that batting was not as difficult as the top three batsmen made it out to be. Imran Nazir has to be the most ungrateful player for throwing down yet another opportunity of cementing his place in the side. And then they go on and say they dont get enough chances. Seriously, I think I was right not to have any expectations from this big-name Pakistani side that treated a world cup match like a regular gully-cricket outing.

I am a big fan of Pakistan cricket team but i don't think that you should pick Danish Kaneria because he is not a wicket taker and he is very expensive in ODI's. Rana Naved has o bowl with full confidence if he is to do well so please tell him runs doesn't matter, just bowl it full and swing the ball. In my whole life that is the first time I have seen Muhammed Yousuf throw his wicket away and I am deeply dissapointed. I am horrified at Younis Khan and that hook shot. IT WAS SHORT AND WIDE, BUT ON THE OFFSIDE!! NO HOOKING!!

Dear Bob!
It was a highly unprofessional and poorly planned run chase. You will not find too many poor chases than this one. Losing is not what worries, but the way we approached the target is beyond understanding.

You & Inzi cannot satisfy the nation by saying that their bowlers bowled well. At this level we should expect our opponents to bowl well & bat well. Yet we have to find ways to outplay them.

At first we gave 25~30 etra runs due to poor field placings by Inzi. While chasing, it was not a huge target to just go out there and smash everything. The way our first three players got out was not the right way of doing it.

According to Mudassir Nazar, Imran Nazir is technically the best opener when he decides to play defensive. Who will tell him when to play defensive and when to play aggressive?? This is a question for you & Inzi that everyone wants an answer to.

We as a nation can do nothing more than to see our team perform poorly, say a few things & then hope for the next matches. In the next match same things repeats again & again & again.........

I am not disappointed but I am giving hope like most of the others..........

May GOD help us as our team is not professionally capable of doing well under pressure. Specially when it matters most.

Hi Bob, we have a tough campaign ahead of us. Hopefully we will get through to the super 8s and maybe sneak a place in the semi finals - from there who knows!

Please reconsider Rana Naveed he has been playing poorly for some time and seems very hittable at the moment. The Pakistani fans have lost confidence in him. Its time to go for control Azhar Mahmood or sheer pace in Sami. I think Sami will be effective against the minnows because of his pace. Also im aghast that we do not have a left hander in the squad it allows opposition bowlers to settle into a nice line and length. Get Rana injured and call up Salman Butt..sharpish!

First of all, let me say I thik you are the best coach we have had for a very long time, and are doing a good job.

Can I suggest we change things slightly, Azhar to come in for Rana, to add to the batting line up. Sami to replace Kaneria unless the track is a massive turner, and lastly, how about a pchologist, who can help make the team mentally strong.

In my opinion that is the biggest difference between Aus, SA, Eng against Pakistan. These Goras are mentally strong and are fighters, we need to tone our brains, if we do, we can be consistent and beat anyone. if we dont we will carry on being the fragile team we are, brilliant one day, atrocious the next. Miandad, Abbas, Imran, Wasim, Waqar, the Mohammed bros were all mentally strong and beat the oppo with controlled aggression.

that in my opinion is Paksitan greatest weakness today, and I am sorry to say, will take time to address.

Bob, please get a sports psychologist, and make a team of strong minded individuals. May not be popular with the numb skulls in the PCB, but it will work.

Well any way you look at it our batting performance and captaincy was poor once again. The batting has will fail every time on such wickets if atleast 2 of our only 3 batsman donot do well enough. For them to do it every time is impossible, but we still have been playing with only 3 batsman for quite some time which to me is simply not understandable. i don't quite get why rana has been playing for over an year now without any performance to show in the last whole year. Kaneria who hasn't played any one day cricket since God knows when was suddenly picked for the world cup after being dropped on SA odi tour b/c he was not needed :s. We continue playing with bits and pieces cricketers and our odi team has become more like the indian aur the english team during the late 1990s and not surprisingly the results are no different either. Such brilliant, mind blowing, fool proof planning was going to lead to no where but poor performances and it hasn't. I hope we do not even make it to the super 8, b/c if we do our team will only get more humiliated by bigger teams.

who seleected the team? i thought ODI are for allrounders, so why Azhar & Yasir were sitting out and who,s behind Rana selection, he is talented no doubt but last 12 months or so his form is very poor with bat & ball, why Sami sitting out when Shoaib & Asif are both out of this worldcup, most importantly Inzamam need to lead the team as leader and need to put some fire & passion in the heart and minds of his player, why GUL didnt complete his 10 overs and why Danish was changed after taking a wicket and giving just 3 runs in his 9th over, after losing 3 wickets why both Inzamam & Yousef played so slowley, the best form of defence is to attack and paly your natural game and after trying so many combinations of opening pairs why not drop Imran Nazir and ask Kamran to open if he does well that will be bonus and if he doesnt thats not gonna make any difference but this will gives you the option to pick one extra bowler or a all rounder such as Yasir Arafat, by dropping Yasir Hamid didnt made any sence at all and finaly the departure of Waqar Younis has made a lot of difference to our pace bowler and i know that the coach & the captain not going to admit that but that,s the fact bringing back Mushy just not make any sense at all, Mushy mentioned about 1992 cup victory but he forgot who was the captain then.

I think Bob Woolmer should concentrate more on Pakistan's cricket performace than writing blogs on Cricinfo. This clearly suggests why Pakistan's performace have been so bad in recent tournaments.

Hey Bob :)
how r u i hope u fine and my Paki Team also fine......! i thing Bob, Inzi Captaince is not upto the mark because when pakistan is bowling he set totaly defencive field........! when westindies 81/3 after 21 over Inzi set defencive field......! hey bob tell me about this lineup
1)Mohammad Hafeez 2)Kamran Akmal 3) Youns Khan 4) Inzamam 5) Mohammad Yousf 6) Shoaib Malik 7) Shahid Afridi 8) Azher Mehmood 9) Umer Gul 10) Mohammad Sami 11) Rao Iftikar

what your opnion about that ??????

Bob, Please tell me why do you keep on batting Younis Khan at no 3 when he has got only 2 centuries from 144 games. Why do you keep on picking Rana Naved - what has he ever done for Pakistan Cricket. A true Pakistani Supporter.
SALIM

Sir, ask Inzi and Yousuf to please go for twos and threes.Please improve running. That is the reason we lost the match. Tell Mushi, this is not 1992.This new format does not allow us to wait for that long. In 1992, people didn't play leg spin with such ease.Now most of them run all over leggies.Tell him that world has changed quite a bit since 1992.Can we open with Shoaib Malik? Nazir is highly unpredictable.Inzi is Ok at no.5. We can still make headways in the tournament inshallah.

The team has to forget baout this match and focus for the next matches. We need to improve our fielding and running between the wickets. Otherwise we will not ba able to win matches consistently. Bowling was good except for Rana (we need to bring sami in and Afridi for Kaneria after his ban is over). Bob do you admit or not but the fact is that we have taken the wrong openers for this imp tournament. But we cannot do anything now and have to use the avialble recources in the best possible way. Sending Younis as open and have hafeez at 6 can be a good strategy. Ask Younis to just hold one end. And Imran to play his natural game but for a change ask him to use hi brain also.

Imran Nadir, Younis Khan, Yousuf, Inzamam, Malik, Hafeez, Akmal, Afridi (kaneria), Sami/Arfat (Not Rana anymore), Rao, Gul.
Gul and Rao should share the new ball and sami can be brought as the first change.

Dont blame the West Indies bowlers...the Pakistani batsmen threw their wickets by playing rash shots!
The top three played unnecessary strokes while Inzi and Yousuf went in to their shell and allowed the WI bowlers to put pressure on them!

Bob,

Incisive and balanced comments from you as usual. You know your players better than anyone else so no i make no points about selection. The solitary point I make is that the captain needs to lead from the front. He is the teams heart and inspiration, he needs to open or come in at 1 down. All the other players look to him for inspiration and like all good leaders he sets the example to be followed. I like many others ask him to look inside himself and meet the most difficult position within the Pak team-that of opening. Graham Smith does it for SA and doesnt always succeed. However, by coming out first he sets the tone for team. That, in my opinion, is the single most important action the captain can take. Good luck, best wishes- Reehan.

Dear Bob,

I think that our boys were overwhelmed by the occassion, however there are a few things that they may need to work on:

1. Mental Toughness- over he past 5/6 weeks the whole PCB has had a tough time- can you do something about installing a higher degree of motivation in to the team.

I think that the team needs tobe spin driven- i.e. control the flow of runs between the 20-40 overs- all teams will try hitting mega runs in the last ten- i.e. Aus hit 16 and 24 runs yesterday against Scotland.

Batting- I'm not sure what YOYO was doing in is last over at the crease- he seemed very anxious- I put this done to not being able to handle the pressure- is there a possability of removing the pressure on him and Inzi by putting in Younis Khan at number 2? Younis with Hafeez should help them put up 50 in first 12 overs.

Bowling- I think that Rao played well but I am worried what will happen when the batsman will get after him?

All rounders- I have seen Azhar play for SCC and he would be a good replacement to Razzaq. With Malik and Afridi I think this should allow the team to put 100 in the last ten.

Whats your thoughts?

I think Azhar Mahmood should open the innings alongwith Imran Nazir. Mahmood nudges the singles and keeps one end intact and Nazir goes for the power play shots, Malik at number 3 - Shoaib always does well at 3 and he has the ability to get 100s from that position while Younis does not, Inzamam at 4, Yousef at 5 and Younis at 6. Number 7 should be Afridi, Akmal at 8, Sami at 9, Gul at 10 and Rao at 11. While Afridi is banned, Hafeez can play, after Afridi returns it should be bye bye Hafeez. This way we bat to 8 and our bowling would be Gul, Sami, Rao, Mahmood, Afridi and Malik. Mahmood would be useful with his leg cutters and Afridi and Malik would be our spin options. Basically by moving Mahmood to open, we can make use of his good ability to play fast bowling and build an innings...like Watson for Australia.

Mr BOB Woolmer,

the results show that there is nothing you have done for this team in last 4 yrz,

Openers problem is still there,
no new solid middle order batsman, even inzi and youhana are soon to leave cricket.

No new fast bowlers !!!

you rotating all old stuff,

this justifies if i give you a nill rating as a coach !!!

i m very hurt over the team selection for world cup !!!

where is salman butt , yasir hameed ??
y isnt Mhd Sami getting better ??

Y are openers getting out ???

u have to solve these problem as we pay you for this...

A tale of 2 teams - From Imran's cornered tigers, to Inzy's timid hacks.

Summary:
---------
The match was lost on 30 extra runs given by the bowling (Rana are you reading this??) and 30 runs not scored by the top order.

Team selection criteria:
--------------------------
Are you a member of Inzy's little kitchen cabinet? If you answered yes, then welcome to the world cup squad!

Lousy team selection:
---------------------
After mucking with the opening pair over the past year, wasn't it apparent that Farhat and Nazir were both impulsive disasters. Should have taken Salman Butt to SA. He was the only genuine opener that PAK has seen since Saeed Anwar. Probably would have bettered Nazir in SA and picked for the WC along with Hameed. On what basis was Nazir picked?

Why play Rana with his unimpressive SA tour and warm up outings? On the other hand, Sami improved in SA and impressed in the warm-up. This was a no brainer.

PAK has bi-polar allrounders i.e. if they bowl well, they bat well and vice-versa. If they fail at one, they fail at the other (with the exception of Shahid Afridi). It's a mental thing. This has been proven with Razzak, Azhar Mehmood and even Rana. Therefore, team must be selected on form and not on reputation.

The way Inzy and Yousuf played, it seemed like there was bad blood between them. No communication whatsoever, no encouragement, NO CAPTAINCY.

Younis Khan - Lose the hook. For beginners, at least play the shot when it's on.

Bob as much as I admire your cricket knowlege, it gives me great pain to say that the lazyness associated with this team has rubbed off on you. Instead of improving them, you've decided to just tag along. Not being able to perfect ONE opener in four years is mind boggling.

Please DROP the bits-and-pieces players and RANA. Gul was putting pressure on one end and Rana was letting it all slip at the other. These days it looks like anyone can play for Pakistan. I've played in the Heartfordshire leagues as a BIT of an allrounder. With the way things are shaping up for this team, I'm starting to fancy my chances.

team of 92 vs team of 2007
Now pakistani fans are saying we had same kind of team in 92 worldcup and we can win this worldcup too. But they are forgetting one thing; In 1992 Pakistan batting lineup was very very long.

There were only two tailenders in that team - Mushtaq Ahmed, who can easily hit sixes as well, and the last man Aquib javed, who was the only one poor tail ender. But now we have halfthe team with tailenders who are worse than Aquib Javed..

These tailender are the worst tailenders in the world cricket. Danish keneria,Umer gull,Rao,Rana,Sami. These all are laughable for batting.

Bob you should play with this team otherwise no way pak can win the matches.
Imran,younis,yousaf,inzi,malik,hafeez,yasir,afridi,kamran,gull,rao.
fast bowlers will be yasir,gull,rao. and spiners will be afridi,hafeez and shoaib

Everyone is talking about the loss of Asif, Shoaib and Razzaq. I agree it hurt the team but I think the selection hurt the team more. First, Rana Naved shouldn't have been picked because he had been totally failing in last few months. The only match he didn't play was the warm up against South Africa and Pakistan won that match. It is as simple as that; when Rana plays Pakistan loses, and when he doesn't they win. May be he needed a break but to take a bowler who is completely out of form didn't make any sense. Then come the openers. Hafeez has been given enough chances and it clear by now that he doesn't cut it at the top level. And same is the case with Imran Nazir. I still remember when he showed promise in his first series in Sharjah. I saw those matches and I was myself excited to see him bat but unfortunately he never corrected the flaws he had in his batting. He still makes the same mistakes and he doesn't deserve a place in the team.
What happened to Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt? I guess they are not on the list of favourites of PCB but then this all doesn't surprise me. Pakistan cricket team is more a team of clowns than professional cricketers, and Bob Woolmer can do only so much. We have been seeing it for years and we will keep on seeing this drama forever. You can coach them, train them and advise them but you can't change the nature of these players. They are just not professional enough, however talented they may be.....

I would like to start by saying the team selection was poor and regardless of the bowling injury problem . There is no excuse for batting line up problem. we still dont have a solid 6 sequential batting order. It keeps chopping and changing. Although the line-up against South Africa in the warm- up game was good and did not need changing. Danish and Rana should never had been picked and both should be replaced by 2 all rounders i.e yaser arafat and Azhar mahmood. Atleast if everyone chips in by default of average we might just win.