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LAHORE: All three senior players, namely former captain full-back Mohammad Imran, half-back Waseem Ahmad and goalkeeper Salman Akbar, who were not considered by the national selection committee on Friday even for the London Olympics’ training camp, are now history and will not play for the national team again, well informed sources told Dawn.
The decision was taken by the PHF’s think-tank after watching the performances of the players, which could not be improved despite giving many chances to them, sources said quoting the think-tank.
“As the Olympics is a grand slam event and if they have been ignored for that mega one, they should now consider themselves history, as they will not be international product, especially after the event,” the sources said.
The sources said that though Imran had led the team in the Champions Trophy, the think-tank was of the view that his performance was not at par with what the PHF was expecting from him as skipper.
Similarly, the think-tank also considered the overall performance of both Salman Akbar and Waseem Ahmad as mediocre and declining, despite giving them many chances.
They said the selection committee had given chance to Imran Butt in place of seasoned goalkeeper Salman Akbar, brought in Kashif Shah in place of M. Imran and it had decided to test Fareed and Tousiq as alternatives of Waseem.
Surprisingly, the sources revealed that the think-tank had also considered the opinions of those former Olympians while taking the decision who had been urging the PHF to raise a new team for the London Olympics after axing senior players.
“Yes, it was an age old demand of the former Olympians to axe senior players, but now the PHF think-tank took a final decision about the seniors, also giving weight to the former Olympians’ opinion. Though it is debatable that the decision is not taken at appropriate time as the seniors were demanding it after the 2010 World Cup, the think-tank still believes five months time is enough to raise a strong team without these three seniors,” sources said.
“The PHF has planned to play at least 20 matches in the next five months and that will provide enough opportunity to the team to prepare itself for the Olympics, without these three seniors,” the sources said.
