Bob Woolmer's Tragic Death

March 17, 2007 will go down as a historic day in the annals of the Cricket World Cup. First, India suffered a 5 wicket loss to underdog Bangladesh. Then, Pakistan lost to another underdog, Ireland, by 3 wickets. Not too many hours after that, Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room, and pronounced dead the following morning.

A bad day all around for over a billion South Asian cricket fans. The word "fan" is woefully inadequate and somewhat misleading when describing the depth of feeling South Asians have for our cricket teams. It does not fully capture the complex and fickle love/hate relationship we have with our cricketers. Cricket is a religion, one we follow with a passion. We love our cricketers and revere them when they win; we despise and denounce them after each loss. Our idols' falls from grace are not forgiven or forgotten until the next scintillating century, the next brilliant win.

It was, therefore, not very surprising that Pakistan's ignominious early exit promptly sparked a furious backlash against the team. Being Indian, I can understand that completely. After all, the World Cup is the Holy Grail in the cricket world. I wouldn't be surprised if a defeat like that would make some people go through the Five Stages of Grief according to the Kubler-Ross model: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. In the time that had elapsed before the news about Bob Woolmer, most would probably have been in one of the first two stages.

However, at some point between denial and anger, the word was out that Mr. Woolmer had died. Needless to say, every cricket follower was in shock. The initial reports about his health and other circumstances surrounding his death were contradictory. This morning though, the Jamaican police stated definitively that Mr. Woolmer had been asphyxiated by strangulation. He most likely was killed by someone who he knew - one needed to swipe a card to even get on to his floor at the hotel, and there were no signs of a forced entry. Mr. Woolmer was also a big man, and it could have taken more than one person to subdue him.

NDTV reports that after Pakistan's elimination from the World Cup, Mr. Woolmer had emailed his decision to resign as coach to a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board. As of now, all the Pakistani cricketers have been questioned (Inzamam for an hour), fingerprinted and possibly DNA-tested. They have also been asked to not leave the islands for a little while longer. Interestingly, NDTV also spoke to Dinesh Kaneria, who was in the room next to Mr. Woolmer's and who stated that he had not heard any unusual noises coming from the coach's room. The mystery deepens and the investigations continue.

This incident illustrates perfectly just how seriously we South Asians take our cricket, that is, far too seriously. After all, at the end of the day, it IS just a game. I don't mean to say that one should not be passionate about it, but rather that losses should not inspire malicious and malevolent acts like burning effigies of the cricketers or destroying the new house that Mahendra Dhoni is building. As for murdering the team coach? COME ON!!! This kind of maniacal fanaticism can only be detrimental to the sport. For instance, it would now require quite an intrepid soul to take on the responsibility coaching the Pakistan (or Indian) team.

What a dark chapter in the history of cricket this World Cup has turned out to be! From what I have read, Mr. Woolmer was somewhat of a controversial coach in terms of testing the boundaries, but he also cared for teams he coached and the direction they were going in. My condolences go to Mr. Woolmer's family as well as his friends and colleagues who will be trying to cope with his senseless death. I also fervently hope that all the cricket fanatics realize that no sport, no team and no person is worth this sort of intense idolatry.