A 2007 team member, Younis Khan also subtly conveyed his dissatisfaction with the players’ lack of assistance from their authorities during their inquiry into Bob Woolmer’s murder.
Younis Khan, the former captain and top scorer in Test cricket for Pakistan, believes that the national team’s cricket career would have advanced significantly if Bob Woolmer, the late head coach, had been alive. A few hours after Pakistan’s defeat against Ireland and consequent elimination from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Woolmer was discovered dead in his Jamaican hotel room. “I have no doubt that if Woolmer had remained head coach, Pakistan cricket would have been very different today, and he would have taken it to great heights,” stated Younis.
Younis, a player for the team in 2007, also hinted at his dissatisfaction with the players’ lack of backing from their authorities during the players’ inquiry after Woolmer’s death.
Bob (Woolmer) and I had a tight relationship, and we always sat down to talk cricket after a net session or game. We had lost to Ireland, so regrettably, we didn’t sit together the night dad died.
“I was furious with myself and went hunting for a duck as well. I walked to my room and shut the door behind me. Younis stated on a Pakistani TV channel, “The next day, I didn’t see him at breakfast, and later we found out about his passing.
Younis went on to say that Woolmer’s passing and the strain the players faced in the West Indies made him reconsider leading Pakistan for an extended period of time.
Following the dispatch of their own security personnel to the Caribbean to collaborate with the Jamaican police, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the government declared Woolmer’s death to have been caused by natural causes.
After the World Cup, Younis claimed Woolmer had psychologically prepared him to lead Pakistan for an extended period of time in all forms.
“After what all happened in the World Cup, I changed my mind and I became a reluctant captain and had no long-term tenure in mind.”
Younis claimed that following Woolmer’s passing, the players were transferred to a different island and interrogated by the local police for three days.
“It was like a torture for us there. While I fully understand the responsibilities a player has to show as an ambassador of his country, it should be the other way round… authorities must also look after us,” he added.
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