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        A classic player in his own right was Bob Woolmer. He did not score too many runs in the Indian tour under Tony Greig in the mid 70s but his fleeting brilliance was a treat to watch. His talent merited more than the 19 Tests he got to play for England. The Kent wonder had so much time to play his shots like his illustrious predecessor answering to the name Michael Colin Cowdrey.

        In a way, Woolmer was determined to make up in coaching what he failed to do as a batsman. A methodical man to the core, his laptop functioning came in for criticism during his stint as the coach of South Africa. So near and yet so far for him when South Africa stumbled at the doorstep in the semifinals of the edition before the New Century.

        That left him in tears but nothing could stop him in his pursuit of finishing a job he had willingly undertaken. It hurt him when the Proteas were branded as a bunch of chokers. Try as he might, the tag remained intact when the team crashed out early in the last edition. The media screamed that the laptop expert simply could not get his arithmetic right when Sri Lanka nosed ahead on better run rate.

        Taking the mantle of Pakistan cricket team when it was on a shambles was a defining moment. Woolmer did not see a crisis but an opportunity to shape a team looking rudderless sans the right leader. He had his good and bad moments but nothing like the happening when the stress factor of losing to Ireland claimed his life.

        Ironically, Woolmer prominently harped on the stress factor a coach is subjected to in the post-match post-mortem of the shattering loss before retiring to his room. Alas, it turned out to be his last one.

        You have heard of cricketers giving their life for the team. Nothing to beat the genial man, who wanted to sleep on his future as a coach.

        Eternal one it turned out.