Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar triggered new debates on the mysterious death of the then Pakistan head coach Bob Woolmer saying he didn't have a good relationship with skipper Inzamam Ul Haq.
Woolmer, the former English cricketer, was seen collapsed to death at his hotel room in Jamaica in some of the sport's darkest hours the day after Pakistan's group-stage exit from the 2007 World Cup following the disappointing loss to Ireland on St Pattrick's day.
And while Inzamam has always given a nice account of the time spent working with the man, Akhtar claims it wasn't hunky-dory.
"He didn't have a good relationship with Inzamam-ul-Haq and the whole team knew it," Akhtar said over his youtube channel on Wednesday (March 18), Woolmer's 13th death anniversary. "I used to console him in the night when he used to come in my room, I would joke with him and also take him out for food."
Akhtar recalled the first time he met Woolmer in Northampton as Pakistan's new head coach.
"People think we used to fight a lot but it was not like that," he said. "When he became the coach he came to me in Northampton and said that 'Shoaib I don't want any trouble from you,' and I said him that he was talking to the wrong person and he will not have any problem with me and then he said that others have indicated this to him."
There were ideological differences between the two but they eventually became great friends in the years thereafter.
"I believed in match winning performances and that match can get over soon," said Akhtar. "Cricket is a game of match winners and a good spell or a good innings can win the match for the team but Bob used to think that cricket is a team sport."
"During the England tour (in 2005) after some initial hiccups I was selected in the team for my pace and I took wickets against a very high-spirited England team, who were coming after an Ashes win."
"We taught them a lesson and took wickets in Multan, Faisalabad and then took a 5 wicket haul in the Lahore ODI. Woolmer was very happy then and he danced, later he told me that Shoaib you were right, individual acts do win matches," he added.
Akhtar got emotional talking about the last meeting he had with Woolmer.
"I (last) met him the night team was leaving for West Indies for the World Cup 2007," he said. "I told him to take care of himself and tell him not to worry much as it is not the end of the world. When I was leaving he called me back and hugged my saying, 'Shoaib I will miss you,' I said him I will miss you too. That was the last time we met."
(Inputs from India Today)
