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Beware of new-look Pakistan
Woolmer has handled the team differently from how he handled the Proteas, and under him Pak seem positive, writes Kadambari Murali.
It rained throughout the morning but there was an interesting sight at the Edgbaston indoor nets on Friday. India and Pakistan practiced side by side, occupied three nets each and made a picture in contrast.
The Indian session was more regular -- they were batting, bowling with a certain method. For the most, it was serious and regulated, the players looked composed but solemn. They would periodically glance up at the viewing area to ask the score of the England-Sri Lanka game at Southampton but that was about all. A calm-looking Sourav Ganguly walked up in between to watch the game for about 10 minutes and then went back to business.
The Pakistan practice on the other hand, was different and made for entertaining viewing. They were doing a bit of everything, there was a lot of fooling around while the sessions were on and the camaraderie within a team once known for its excessive infighting was almost startlingly evident. They were enjoying themselves, wrestling each other to the ground, yelling while doing a session of racing to a pile of balls, picking and throwing at the stumps three-at-a-time, teasing and chatting throughout.
Despite the banter, the team had a look of a confident outfit that was moving as one, markedly different from the one in Pakistan that was somehow a more ragged bunch despite the efforts of the then coach Javed Miandad. Today, there seemed a method in the madness and a discipline that belied the seeming chaos.
At first, it was difficult to pinpoint what the changes are exactly. The players, for instance, are the same. The captain is the same. Even the manager is the same. And then you saw Bob Woolmer, once dubbed inflexible by the South African media, carrying the bowling machine and laughing as Shahid Afridi threw a ball in his direction.
