Bob has left a lasting legacy

To be honest, we are still recovering from the shock of Bob Woolmer's tragic death. We had a day off and had travelled to the beach to relax. When a friend called from Sri Lanka he relayed the terrible news. When something like this happens it gives you a reality check about what is most important in life.

I was never coached by Bob, but I played against his teams on many occasions. We also chatted on several occasions during the various tours and tournaments in which we were both involved. He was clearly a man with an incredible passion and enthusiasm for the game.

He was also a very good coach, full of ideas and very intelligent and insightful. All his teams were meticulously prepared and he was unafraid to innovate in his quest for cricketing excellence. There is no doubt that Bob has left a lasting legacy in Pakistan, like he did with all the teams he coached and all the countries where he set up development programmes over the years.

Strange feeling

We still don't know exactly what happened, but our thoughts are with his family right now. In such circumstances, it seems strange to be in the midst of a World Cup. There is a feeling of sadness everywhere. But Bob loved the game and he would also have wanted the tournament to go on. Our task now is to re-focus. We need to re-focus too because Bangladesh served a warning to world cricket with their brilliant performance against India. They are continuing to develop and are becoming increasingly more consistent.

To be honest, we were not entirely surprised as we realised that Bangladesh have the potential to play competitively and surprise the top teams.

Focus on preparation

Our strategy has been not to underestimate any opponent. All our games are to be approached in the same manner with a focus on our own preparation. We want to play our own brand of cricket and we are concentrating completely on the execution of our game plan.

The mood within our camp is very positive and we are eagerly looking towards taking the field against both Bangladesh and India. I was delighted with the energy and intensity we maintained against Bermuda and it was a good solid start to the tournament. We have since followed it up with some great training sessions.

This will stand us in good stead for what will be a tough 72 hours with two key games packed into three days, but that is the kind of challenge you have to come through if you want to win a major tournament. After all, the preparations and warm-ups, the crunch games have arrived! Of course, this includes the India encounter, because, as Marvan Atapattu rightly pointed out, India began poorly in 2003 and reached the final. It is foolish to write them off.

Our selection will be difficult because we have 15 top-quality players. We are fortunate to be picking players from a position of strength.