Inzamam-ul-Haq recalls how he proved Bob Woolmer wrong in 2005 Bangalore Test

Pakistan came on a tour to India back in 2005 and it turned out to be historic for them as they defeated the hosts in the three-match Test series by 2-1. Inzamam-ul-Haq was the Pakistan skipper then and late Bob Woolmer was the coach of the team. Now, the former player has revealed some interesting things that happened on that tour.

The Men in Green came to India with a relatively weak squad as some of their main players were not the part of the team. After two games, Pakistan were lagging in the series by 1-0. The 3rd Test was scheduled to be played in Bangalore that they won by 168 runs. And, it all changed for the visitors, who ended up the subsequent six-match ODI series by 4-2 as well.

Woolmer had thought Inzamam’s decision to declare was wrong

Recently, Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan skipper said that his 100th Test in Bangalore was a special game for him. He recalled that the tour to India was quite important for him as the critics had termed it as the weakest Pakistan team tour India ever.  Moreover, he under added pressure as his father had come to watch him play for Pakistan for the first time.

Pakistan were dominating the game after taking a 121-run lead in the first innings and they stamped their authority by scoring 261 runs for the loss of two wickets. While the lead had still not crossed the 400-run mark, Inzamam-ul-Haq decided to declare the innings with a view to have a go at the Indian batsmen for a few overs before stumps. But India got off to a good start and the coach Bob Woolmer felt Inzamam had made a mistake declaring early.

“When I was about to declare in the second innings, I sent a message to Bob Woolmer that I wanted to give some overs to India today. Woolmer said that the captain and vice-captain should make that call. I asked Younis who agreed with me. I wanted to take a chance and called for the declaration. India had a great start in those overs. When I came back Woolmer said that he thought my decision to declare was wrong,” Inzamam said on his Youtube channel.

However, the next day witnessed an amazing turnaround as Pakistan as apart from the openers, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, none of the Indian batsmen could score runs. Evenually, the visitors bundled them out for just 214 runs to seal the game and level the series. Recalling the day, Inzamam remembered how he had told his team to get Sehwag’s wicket early and things will fall in place for them.

“The next day, I told my team that if we get Sehwag then they won’t be able to chase it down. That day, Razzaq ran Sehwag out. I thought that if Razzaq can run a batsman out, then it is definitely our day. India went into defensive mode after the wicket. I attacked with our fielders and even a batsman like Sachin Tendulkar couldn’t score. When we got to the last part of the match, we got an extra six or seven overs which vindicated my decision to declare early,” the 50-year-old added.

Here’s the video: