Bob has been working with us for the last three years and he is a big loss for us because he was a good man. The whole team is sad about him. I am also very upset for his family.

Bob was very close to me because I am the captain. He was a very positive man. Whenever somebody is in trouble, not in good touch or good form, he was always helpful and his feelings were with them. He was friendly with the players.

He was a very good coach but a super human being. Because of this he had a lot of respect from the team.

After the match against Ireland he was upset but he said to me and to all the players that these things happen in cricket. He told us about the ’99 World Cup when his South African team was knocked out in the semi-final after a tie. He was brave and knew how to handle the situation when everybody was feeling down.

After the press conference (following the game) was the last time I talked to him. He asked me on the bus when we were coming back to the hotel “what are your future plans? Can we discuss them tomorrow? After that he was in his room and I was in my room. Tomorrow never came.

He will be well remembered. Now we are in trouble because we are out of the World Cup but over the last three years our win ratio is very high.

I enjoyed working with him and I have learned a lot from him. He had a big role in the team, arranged practice, made the plans, talked to the boys about what they were doing wrong. He has been involved with cricket for the last 40 years and he has passed on that experience to us.

The first time I knew of Bob’s illness was when our assistant manager rang me Sunday morning and said the coach is not feeling well and maybe he is upset. When I went to see him he was lying on the floor and it was shocking for me.

I will never forget him. He was very special to me and to Pakistan cricket.

On the cricket side of things, I will be retiring from one-day internationals. I feel it is the right time for me to go from the one-day scene but I would still like to play Test cricket. I still feel I have some more cricket in me yet as far as Tests go.