Shocking and unbelievable! How could a person of 58 years of age just succumb to high tensions and stress in cricket? How could cricket take its toll on dedication and devotion so intense?

Sure, cricket itself is a game of glorious uncertainties. That means every player, or the ones connected to the game, has to be prepared to take the ups with the downs. One has to be real tough to be associated with this game of high drama, at least in these times.

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan team coach is no more with us, and the reason of his death is yet to be ascertained medically. But we, those who have gone through such tensions, should know the reason. The day prior to his death, with Pakistan having shamelessly lost to one of the minnows in the competition without putting up a fight, Woolmer did say that it was the worst day for him in cricket. The sorrow was understandable. All his efforts had gone down the drain in one fell stroke as his team lost to Ireland.

Mind you, it’s not just the defeat. It’s the insult heaped on you, by not only the fans, the administrators, media etc., but also the very team for which you sacrificed so much, worked hard to put all together, to get the best out of each and every one. And then, they just go away, leave you in the lurch.

As luck had it, I had to go through all stages filled with tension, trauma and drama at the highest level. As a player in the Mumbai (then Bombay) team, I was always kept on tenterhooks on selection in the eleven for almost every match till they made me the captain. As a Test player, I was lucky to play all the Tests in succession, thanks to Mr Nawab Pataudi, who had so much faith in me and then I became captain till I retired in 1974.

... contd.