KARACHI: Forward Mohammad Rizwan Senior was named on Thursday as the new Pakistan hockey captain to lead a 21-member Pakistan hockey team that was announced for the three-nation tournament in Muscat after the end of two-day trials held at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium.

Rizwan has succeeded Mohammad Irfan Sr who has expressed his inability to accompany the team citing ‘personal reason’ despite attending the camp.

It is pertinent to mention that the newly appointed captain was Irfan’s deputy in the Dhaka Asia Cup last year. Arsalan Qadir has been named as the vice-captain.

Selectors name 21-member squad after trials

The team features half-a-dozen new faces including Imran Butt, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Tauseeq Arshad, Shafqat Rasool, Faisal Qadir and Tazeem-ul-Hasan.

Chief selector Islahuddin Siddiqui announced the team after getting the formal approval from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar.

Islah was flanked by the co-selectors Ayaz Mahmood, Farhat Khan and Mussadiq Hussain. Another selector Qasim Khan failed to turn up at the two-day trials.

The PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Sr and vice-president Tariq Huda also watched the trials.

Answering questions, the chief selector said he was optimistic that the team will pick up momentum after getting international exposure.

“The performance will be a litmus test of players who need to overcome complacency soon as major events loom ahead,” he remarked.

Islah disclosed that the Muscat three-nation event will be played on the double league format involving Japan and host Oman besides Pakistan.

It may be mentioned that Japan had shown significance improvement in the recent past and gave a tough time to Pakistan in back-to-back competitions.

When pressed to give reasons for not considering Irfan Sr, Islah said the former captain has excused that he can’t travel with the team as he was proceeding abroad.

Asked as to how two players —Ammad Shakeel Butt and Azfar Yaqoob — have been selected in the team without even attending the camp or appearing in the trials, he said they are playing league in Malaysia with the permission of the PHF and will be back soon to join the team.

Another player Rashid Mahmood was not considered as he is nursing a hamstring injury.

Islah further informed that the team will continue training in the camp till their departure to Muscat on Feb 10 or 11.

Team:

Imran Butt, Mubashir Ali, Mohammad Rizwan Jr, Tasawwar Abbas, Abu Bakar, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Tauseeq Arshad, Umer Bhutta, Arsalan Qadir (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan Sr (captain), Shafqat Rasool, Amjad Ali, Fisal Qadir, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Azfar Yaqoob, Ijaz Ahmed, Ali Shan, Atiq Arshad, Shajeeh Ahmed, Atif Mushtaq and Tazeem-ul-Hasan.

Stand-byes: Mazhar Abbas, Mohammad Aleem Bilal, Junaid Kamal, Samiullah and Khizer Akhtar.

Officials: Hasan Sardar (manager-cum-head coach), Mohammad Saqlain and Rehan Butt (coaches), Shahid Ali Khan (goal-keeping coach).

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2018