ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: A psychologist attached with the national hockey team has hoped the Pakistan squad will soon attain a certain motivational level. “I am trying to raise the motivation of our national hockey team and I am confident to achieve my task with the help of team management,” Col. (r) Zulfiqar Ahmed told reporters on Saturday.

Zulfiqar is associated with the national hockey training camp currently in progress at Nasir Bunda Stadium, Pakistan Sports Complex, in preparation for the six-match home-and-away hockey series against India.

Pakistan captain Muhammad Saqlain and forward Mudassar Ali Khan joined the camp on the second day after its commencement on Friday. They were in India to play the league matches there.

Three other leading players, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi and Imran Khan Yousufzai, had also returned home after playing in the Indian league and would join the camp in a couple of days, said Pakistan manager Saeed Khan who is also the camp commandant.

Chief Coach Asif Bajwa said that three of the leading players Adnan Zakir (shin), Mudassar Ali Khan (hamstring) and Rehan Butt (groin) were on the injury list but hoped that they would soon recover with the help of physio Dr. Riaz Ahmed who was with the Pakistan team which won the 1994 World Cup at Sydney (Australia) and had later joined Pakistan cricket team.

“The stress and fatigue from the Indian league had taken its toll on these players but I am sure they will be back to full fitness by the time the first match of the Pakistan-India series gets under way on Feb 16.

The camp commandant Saeed said the trials to select the national squad for the series against India would be held at Nasir Bunda Stadium probably on Feb 8 and the team would cross over to India from Lahore on Feb 13.

The first match of the series will be played at Jalandhar on Feb 16 while second and third matches will both be contested at Chandigarh on Feb18 and 20.

On the Pakistan leg of the series, the first match will be played at Army Hockey Stadium, Rawalpindi, on Feb 22 to be followed with clashes at Faisalabad Hockey Stadium and National Hockey Stadium, Lahore, on Feb 24 and 26.

Saeed said the Pakistan-India series would be a warm-up for a busy 2006 during which such tournaments would take place around the world as Commonwealth Games at Melbourne, Australia (March), World Cup qualifying tournament in China (April), Champions Trophy at Terrasa, Spain, (June) World Cup proper at Munich, Germany, (September) and finally Asian Games in Qatar (December).

“Our attempt will be to play aggressive hockey during these competitions,” Saeed said, adding in reply to a question that no single team could win all these titles.

“We will be in the run in every major tournament and given luck can win some titles,” he said.

The coaches at the camp are Muhammad Asif Bajwa and Rana Mujahid Ali.

The following are the probables invited to attend the national training camp:

Nasir Ahmed (PIA), Zeeshan Ashraf, Adnan Maqsood, Imran Warsi, Tariq Aziz, Adnan Zakir and Akhtar Ali (NBP), Dilawar Hussain, Muhammad Javaid, Azhar Iqbal and Muhammad Imran (Pakistan Army), Salman Akbar, Sajjad Anwar, Muhammad Zubair, Waqas Vikki, Yasir Islam and Shakeel Abbasi (PTCL), Kashif Yaqoob (PAF), Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan, Waqas Sharif, Imran Khan Yousafzai, Mudassar Khan and Muhammad Shabbir (Wapda), Muhammad Saqlain (ABL), Ihsan Ullah and Imran Shah (Customs), Muhammad Attique (Pakistan Railways), Shabbir Khan (Sui Southern), Aamir Shahzad (POF).—APP