When Inzamamul Haq won the toss in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy there was no one at the ground who thought that he would decide to do anything else but field first.

In the pre-match chatter among the experts that included David Gower, Nasser Hussain, Michael Holding, Ian Bishop and Ravi Shastri, it seemed a closed chapter: the side winning the toss would field first.

When Inzamam won the toss and said that he would bat, I thought I had misheard him or it was a slip of the tongue. I would be very surprised if Inzamam took this decision on his own. There must have been some discussion and some in-put from the think-tank and the senior players but in legal terms, the responsibility is entirely that of the captain.

That such an elementary mistake should have been made in such a crucial match is mind-blowing. How could Pakistan have got it so wrong? As if this was not bad enough, the 18-year-old Salman Butt who hadn't played a single match is picked and made to open the innings while Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana are safely tucked away in the positions of four and five and from where they won't budge.

The conditions were such that the ball would swing and seam the whole day and our batsmen, once described, as "flat-track bullies" hadn't a clue on how to cope. Two run outs did not help.

Pakistan had beaten India in convincing style and I can't help feel that the team felt that it had done its job and it didn't matter from there on. How fired up was the team for the semi-final? As fired up as were the West Indies for both the semi-final and the final?

When the West Indies took the field for the final, they reminded me so much of the Pakistan team that arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the World Cup final in 1992. There was a buzz around the team and it looked like winners.

All Brian Lara had to do was to win the toss and put England in and the West Indies would be in the driving seat. The ball seamed and swung but despite a very lucky century by Marcus Trescothick, England was contained due mainly through very sensible bowling.

The West Indian batsmen got carried away and wanted to finish the game as soon as possible and damn nearly lost the match in the process until Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw, batting at nine and 10 respectively realized that there was no call for heroics and the runs could be got calmly.

This was the self-belief that the West Indies had brought to the final plus a determination to give their people back home some good news after Hurricane Ivan had ripped through the Caribbean.

We must, of course, put the ICC Champions Trophy behind us and the going against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will not be as tough. Sri Lanka is a good team but is not quite the force it is away from home.

Pakistan must take the opportunity to inject some fresh blood but the main purpose should be to get some players who have the talent and the temperament to make some contribution on Pakistan's tour of Australia. Pakistan will be playing three Test matches and Australia shows no mercy and the extra-bounce of the Australian wickets has been the undoing of even the best batsman.

Pakistan will have to change its entire mental outlook and Bob Woolmer will have to take his players back to the basics. I don't think it is possible to replicate Australian conditions but it may not be a bad idea if the training camp for that tour is shifted to Australia itself so that the players can adjust to the conditions.

Woolmer should have got a pretty good idea about the mood-swings of the Pakistan players and the players must have got used to Woolmer's working methods. I think it very important to appreciate that a coach has his limitations. Players win or lose matches not the coach.

When the mighty Australians lost to England, not a finger was raised at the coach, Saurav Ganguly slammed his batsmen not John Wright. India has got used to the idea of a foreign coach though initially there was the customary baying from some Indian ex-Test cricketers who no doubt felt that they were better qualified than a foreigner.

When Pakistan lost in the semifinals, one expected the howl of criticism and insinuated into this criticism would be some pot-shots at Woolmer. Woolmer better get used to this. This goes with the territory.

At the same time, Inzamam and the players must not get too used to having a coach who will pull the chestnuts out of the fire for them. The coach is there to help them, not to bat or bowl for them and most of all not to run between the wickets for them.

Still one looks forward to the triangular and the Test matches against Sri Lanka and one hopes that the selectors have not forgotten Taufiq Umar. He looked to be Pakistan's most promising batsman at one stage and one would like to see him opening the innings in the Test matches. He appeared to have lost form.

This may be a good reason to be dropped from a match but not a good enough reason to be sent into oblivion. But cricket keeps us busy and more often than not on tenterhooks. It at least shows that we care about our national team. We don't show the same emotion about our hockey team any more.