The recently-concluded 2007 World Cup will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The foremost of them is the mysterious death of Bob Woolmer, coach of the Pakistan team.
Woolmer, who was born in Kanpur, had also coached South Africa earlier in his career and is still fondly remembered by the players he trained. One of them is Daryll Cullinan, who still can't get over the shock of his death. He believes it was a very sad moment for cricket.
"There is no doubt that he was feeling the strain [as Pakistan's coach]," the former South Africa batsman told rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Cullinan played 70 Tests and 138 one-dayers in the 1990's and was a key Proteas batsman.
Special Correspondent Harish Kotian caught up with the 40-year-old in Dhaka, where is doing television commentary on India's tour of Bangladesh.
Your reactions to Bob Woolmer's untimely death during the World Cup. You played under him when he was coach of South Africa...
It is very sad; it was incredibly tragic, because under the circumstances it is sad to see a man that loved cricket die under those circumstances. So, in time we will duly come to understand what it all meant and why it was.
It was very, very sad and very, very unfortunate. He was well-liked in South Africa and well-liked wherever he coached.
Your memories of playing under Woolmer.
He was an innovative coach. He always talked about how to improve the game and came up with some different theories and ideas. Some were good, some were hilarious, some were really out of the box and that's what he was. He just loved the game. I think that is the abiding memory I will always have about him.
Do you think he was under stress while coaching Pakistan, where there is so much focus on cricket?
I saw him a lot in South Africa in the last series because I had to interview him on a regular basis for a television channel. There is no doubt that he was feeling the strain.
It was probably, of all the coaching jobs he had done, the most different of set-ups, different rules he had to work by. I think he found it frustrating, but he accepted the job. I think for a lot of guys [Pakistan players] he made a big difference.
But the impression that I got -- and this is my impression -- is that it was a tough job for him.
What do you think of Bangladesh's recent success in international cricket?
I have never played against them, but I have watched them and I think they have shown great improvement.
They have got a lot of young players who have now played around 60-70 games. I think, probably, besides [Javed] Omar and [Habibul] Bashar the rest of them would be around come the next World Cup [in 2011]. By then they would be vastly experienced and would have played around 150-200 one-day games. So I think they have a got very exciting future.
I like the look of Tamim Iqbal as a player. They have also got Aftab [Ahmed], Saqibul Hasan. Mohammad Rafique has been a solid performer for them. They are good in the field too, so everything suggests that in the next couple of years they will get better and better. They got to be one of the better emerging sides in world cricket right now. They have got everything going for them now.
Did you expect Bangladesh to shock South Africa at the World Cup?
Well, it was a typical day and situation where South Africa played into the hands of Bangladesh. The other player I forgot to mention was Mohammad Ashraful, who scored a brilliant 80 and used the pace really well. So South Africa came unstuck.
The bounce in Guyana decreased as the day went on and Bangladesh's slow left-arm spinners suffocated and South Africa never had an answer.
Did the defeat peg them back mentally?
They clinically needed to win it to make the semi-finals draw. They would have probably wanted to play against Sri Lanka or New Zealand rather than play against Australia. So, I think, in that regard it was a big blow for them. They were not expecting to lose that match.
But were you satisfied with South Africa's showing at the World Cup? They bowed out in the semi-finals even though they entered the tournament ranked as the world's top team.
They played some very good cricket. They had some limitations in their side. They had a very one-dimensional bowling attack. I think they were a probably a bit too over aggressive with the bat. It has come as a big blow. We were anticipating lots from them. There was so much hype and expectations that they would do well. They never played smart cricket under pressure at critical times.
Australia was always going to be their big challenge. One or two situations where they were on top of the Australians [in the Group match at the World Cup] and they lost that match. They never gained that initial confidence early on, which they could so easily have had in that opening round match against Australia and it might had been a different story come the semi-finals. So they have only themselves to blame if they reflect back on their performances.
Would you blame the captain and coach for the team's failure?
They read it wrong and they admitted their mistake that maybe their approach was not the right approach. But they felt that maybe they needed to get on top of Australia very quickly, which suggested that just trying to play normal cricket would not be enough. It's really a tribute to Australia's strength.
You did a bit of coaching earlier, but now it seems you are content being in the commentator's box?
It is easier you see; you seldom get it wrong. And your job doesn't depend on how someone bats or bowls, so it easier in the box.
