COLOMBO, 25 July 2004 — Pakistan’s new coach Bob Woolmer yesterday said his team had an uphill task ahead in their crucial Asia Cup Super League cricket match against India.
“We are playing against the second best team in the world and we need to play really well to beat them,” Woolmer said about today’s crunch game, which is virtually the semifinal of the tournament. Hosts Sri Lanka are almost sure of advancing to the final on Aug. 1 after beating Pakistan and Bangladesh. India and Pakistan have played one game each in the Super League with India having beaten Bangladesh.
“We have seen many times on television that you can’t mess with them and let us make no bones about it, it’s not going to be easy,” said Woolmer, who took over from former captain Javed Miandad earlier this month.
“This game is important not because it’s an India-Pakistan game but because if we lose we are out of the tournament. It’s a sudden-death situation and it’s like the first of three finals for us,” he added.
Woolmer, however, felt the defending champions had it in them to bounce back despite their loss to India in both Tests and one-dayers at home earlier this year.
“The boys are much more focused, I don’t know why they weren’t focused in the last series but they have really worked very hard in the last two days. Skipper Inzamam ul-Haq is right in saying the players need to take more responsibility,” he said. Woolmer, a batsman who played 19 Tests for England between 1975 and 1981, was the coach of the South African team from 1994 to 1998. He is Pakistan’s 11th coach in eight years.
