E-Paper
Inzy bhai is savouring the triumph
After almost 15 years in the business Inzy bhai is a respected elder, a masterful player who brings enormous skill and grace to the crease, writes Amrit Mathur.
Late Sunday night, much after the match was lost, there was aag, the fire, at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Suddenly, as sirens screamed, alarmed guests scurried out of the revolving lobby doors to seek safety. Outside, met by chilly winds, they huddled under the porch of an adjoining building -- keeping Indian players company were some adversaries from Pakistan and their possible opponents Ponting and Hayden.
As it turned out this was only a false alarm, the danger passed and the players trudged back to their rooms. But not before someone commented he wished here was asli fire within the team, considering their performance was so woefully flat and uninspiring. Which, if considered objectively, is a fair comment because the team, short on energy and enthusiasm, lacks momentum and resembles an old car going uphill which is also short on gas.
Compare this with Pakistan who, suddenly, have put the pieces together. Clearly, Woolmer is a positive influence on a cricket system which traditionally inverted the power structure by putting players ahead of the team. Now that has changed, the balance restored with the implementation of Woolmer's ground rules of cricket administration.
Apparently, he wrote a memo (as Buchanan does with the Aussies) saying Pakistan cricket is a train which is moving and the players have to decide whether they want to be on it or not.
