LONDON, March 27: Humiliated by their ignominious exit from the World Cup last week and heartbroken by the mysterious death of coach Bob Woolmer, the dejected Pakistan squad flew in to London on Sunday morning only to face some more music from the authorities.

Having suffered enough already for being investigated and finger-printed by the Jamaican police after the body of their coach was discovered in his room at the team's Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, the team had more problems awaiting them in London.

On Sunday morning, minutes after their flight landed at the Heathrow Airport, they were detained in the Jamaican Air cabin by the British immigration officers and police as the rest of the passengers left the plane. The players were subjected to strict interrogation by the immigration officers at the airport regarding their stay in UK. They were quizzed over duration of their stay, places of accommodation in London, etc while some of them were even asked to remove their dark glasses for identification purposes.

Knowing that a huge contingent of media had gathered outside the arrival lounge, the police then escorted the players from back doors to their coach which took them to their hotel nearby. A heavy security presence greeted them as they checked in and their friends and visitors were body searched before getting permission to meet the team.

A number of players, who wished to remain anonymous, later gave details of the ordeal faced by them in the aftermath of Ireland defeat and, later, due to the death of their coach. "We were already upset, having lost the first game to the West Indies, but the flop show against Ireland became unbearable for many of us and almost everyone began to cry in the dressing room,” the players disclosed.

“Some had covered their faces with towels as they shed tears. It was Bob who comforted us and said, “whatever has happened has happened, we have played badly and my dream of taking Pakistan to the World Cup final is also shattered.”

“When we got into the coach to go to the hotel everyone was quiet and there was no argument with anyone as misreported in the press. All of us were stunned. At the hotel in the lift Bob once again tried to cheer us up before he went to his room on the 12th floor,” recalled one of the players.

While in England, most of the players were taken aback by former PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan’s statement to British press that Woolmer's relationship with skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq was not an ideal one since the captain wanted all the control and that the board chief was well aware of the spot-fixing phenomenon.

The anger of the team pretty much reflected in the rejoinder issued by media officer P.J. Mir during the team’s stay in London which said: “This may be the case when Shaharyar Khan was the chairman of the board. If he knew that Inzamam had become all powerful and relationship with his coach was not good, why did he not take any action? Also, if he knew about spot-fixing why did he not say anything about it? I think he failed as a PCB chairman and this is certainly not the right time to utter such things.”

On another front, though, a bunch of disgruntled players requesting anonymity, voiced their concerns regarding the religious drills they were made to go through on the short stint in the Caribbean and during the trip to London.

“At times some of us questioned ourselves whether we have come here to play cricket or on a religious mission. We were not really focused. Just before the parade during the opening ceremony, our assistant coach asked us to line-up for prayers while other teams participated in the official turnout,” narrated one of younger players in the side.

“Before taking the flight to London the assistant coach once again asked us to congregate at the Kingston Airport lounge for prayers and during the flight to London, despite objections from the cabin staff, a number of us were asked to offer prayer in the aircraft gallery as the rest of the passengers watched in bewilderment.”