It is a bit of good fortune that Bob Woolmer has learnt early the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde nature of the Pakistan team. Exactly the same team played against Sri Lanka as played against India. Yet it was apparent that we were watching two different teams.

What brings about this mood-swing, this split personality? It isn't as if one or two players are off colour. The entire team either plumbs to the depth of the ocean floor or soars like an eagle to dizzy heights. There are no half-way measures.

It is not easy to be a Pakistan supporter and even for someone like me who has been in the trenches from the beginning. I have not been able to come to terms this maddening fickleness.

I think it is very important to establish that Woolmer is not on trial. It is equally important to establish that Inzamamul Haq is the captain of the team and he has to accept responsibility for the performance of the team and to provide the leadership. The coach is there to help him. It's not the other way round.

When Pakistan was routed by Sri Lanka in a quite inexplicable display of spinelessness, the roof appeared to fall on the coach. As is usual, the professional critics had a field day. But in the very next match and that too against India, Pakistan put on a stunning display and the guns became silent.

The PCB at long last has been able to put together a strong support-team but we will have to be very patient. In the first stage, some of the players will have to undergo a process of unlearning.

Yasir Hameed, for example must learn that since he opens the batting, his job is to play out most of the innings and when he appears to be set, there is no need to play for glory and commit hara-kiri in the process. To his natural talent he must add discretion and play for the team.

Both the captain and the coach need to talk to Yasir. He was involved in a most promising partnership with Shoaib Malik and yet he threw his wicket away needlessly. Does he suddenly get a rush of blood?

Shoaib Malik had a dream match and he proved every expert wrong. Despite his brilliant century, I still feel that he should not be batting at number three. He chanced his arm and it was his day.

That's the way the dice fall sometimes. If he has to bat high in the order, he may as well open the innings. But the number three slot is a key one and either Inzamam or Yousuf Youhana should be batting in that position.

If Youhana has to bat at number five, he may as well not play. Either Abdul Razzaq should be batting there or we should pick one of the young guns from the 'A' team. In any case, this team needs some changes and I will come to this once the Asia Cup is over.

We should be looking beyond the ICC Champions Trophy and to Pakistan's tour of Australia that will be a hard one and will separate the men from the boys. Shoaib Akhtar has not had a very good Asia Cup but the commitment seems to be there and he seems focused though he dropped Irfan Pathan, a sitter that might have got Pakistan that bonus point.

It is possible that he lost his balance on the dew-affected outfield or lost the ball in the lights and started late. It can happen when it's not your day. Normally, Shoaib Akhtar has a safe pair of hands.

There are still too many extras being given away but Pakistan bowled well both against Sri Lanka and India. The key spell against India was bowled by Razzaq. I think the training that the team goes through is doing him good. He is beginning to look lively and he put a greater effort in his bowling.

Shabbir Ahmed also looked sharp but Mohammad Sami is still being talked as a bowler of "great promise" but should be now delivering on that promise. He seems to have completely lost the art of swinging the ball. Danish Kaneria has played only one match but he should not be discouraged. He is still young.

Pakistan has done much to make up for that pathetic performance against Sri Lanka. It seemed as if all the wheels had fallen off and one was at a complete loss to understand the way the batsmen went about getting themselves out.

Inzamam played a truly horrid shot and the run-out of Youhana seemed almost pre-planned. He has this tendency to take a couple of steps forward after he plays a shot and appears to fall over. The Sri Lankans had done their homework. The others just flashed their bats to balls outside the off stump.

Of all the teams in the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka has played the best cricket. It is a team with a game-plan and while we were all convinced that their spinners would play a central role, it has been their seamers who seemed to have grabbed most of the wickets.

It is quite extraordinary how Chaminda Vaas continues to keep going. He may have lost a little in pace but nothing else. He can almost bowl a yorker on demand. Sri Lanka is playing as a combination and Sanath Jayasuriya has battled himself back to form.

Sri Lanka does not make wholesale changes even when it is down in the dumps but keeps unearthing new players who seem to fit well in the team. It is a team that has long relied on Muttiah Muralitharan and though he still remains an outstanding bowler, the reliance on him is not total.

As I write this it is not clear which two teams will figure in the final though Sri Lanka seems home and dry. For the other spot it will come down to points and run-rates and in any case Pakistan's fate is not in its hands. But the consolation will be there, a great win against India.