KARACHI, Oct 3: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Tuesday called up 41 probables for December’s Asian Games including number of senior players and controversial captain Mohammad Saqlain despite their recent outbursts against manager Shahnaz Sheikh.

But while the PHF has invited Saqlain, Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, Adnan Maqsood, Adnan Zakir and Ghazanfar Ali, the players might not be available for the national training camp since most of them are committed to appear in hockey leagues abroad during the same period.

The camp runs from Oct 10 to 20 in Islamabad in the first phase while the second phase will be held from Nov 1 to 6 in Karachi.

The PHF has already announced that only those players who will participate in the national training camp and trials will be considered for the Doha Games, scheduled to be held from Dec 1 to 15.

Nevertheless, a call-up to Saqlain and other senior players is incomprehensible since PHF secretary Akhtarul Islam has recently stated that the centre-forward and few other senior players might face disciplinary action for their outbursts against manager-cum-coach Shahnaz Sheikh.

Saqlain, who has faced several penalties at the international level for his rash behaviour and misconduct on the field, once again made headlines last month when he lashed out at Shahnaz for what he called unprofessional handling of the national team which finished a poor sixth in last month’s World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany.

Saqlain claims that Shahnaz does not possess the skills of a professional coach and that the Olympian lacks modern technical expertise which is necessary for any good coach.

The midfielder has also suggested that a foreign coach should be hired and even threatened that he would “retire” if a foreigner is not considered for the coaching job.

Interestingly, Akhtar soon after taking charge as secretary, had categorically stated at a press conference that there would be no compromise on discipline.

An invitation to Saqlain and a nod from the selection committee might create more problems since Shahnaz had also been at loggerheads with Saqlain in the past because of misconduct by the centre-half during a national training camp.

Besides Saqlain, things might become difficult for Shahnaz since he also had a bitter experience in a controversy involving Sohail and Waseem and had to “resign” as coach. Shahnaz was charged with instigating the pair to play in German league but an inquiry into the allegation by the PHF exonerated Shahnaz who later opted to step down.

Also invited among the probables are nine Pakistan `A’ team players who recently won the South Asian Games gold at Colombo in August. The `A’ team players called up for the camp are Tariq Yameen, Imran Khan, Rana Asif, Sajjad Anwar, Shabbir Ahmad, Kashif Yaqoob, Mudassir Khan, Qazi Ikhlaq and Farhan Ali.

However, it is hard to understand what selection criteria was adopted while choosing the probables. For instance, according to Pakistan `A’ team manager Saleem Sherwani, full-back Tariq Yameen and goalkeeper Qazi Ikhlaq were camp standbys. However, they have been called up too although they did not even take part in the Games in Colombo, while Mohammad Iqbal who was the team goalkeeper has been sidelined.

“I had submitted some 14 or 15 names of the players. I don’t know who and how many players have been invited for the senior camp. I only provided the names and now it is the selectors’ job to call the players,” said Saleem who shied away from commenting on how many standbys he had recommended for the senior camp.

PHF has also invited Tariq Aziz who was banned for six months for hitting a player at Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games.

Probables:

Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar; Nasir Ahmad, Qazi Ikhlaq, Farhan Ali.

Full-backs: Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Imran Warsi, Ihsanullah, Ateeq, Kashif Ali, Tariq Yameen.

Half-backs: Ghazanfar Ali, Mohammad Saqlain, Adnan Maqsood, Waseem Ahmad, Imran Khan, M. Sami, Zaheer, M. Imran, Dilawar Hussain, Rana Asif, Sajjad Anwar, Mohammad Nadeem.

Forwards: Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Shabbir Ahmad, Shabbir Hussain, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Ali, Mustansar Sheikh, Waqas Sharif, Waqas Akbar, Kashif Yaqoob, Ishtiaq, Haseem Khan, Mudassir Khan, Atif, Iftikhar Hussain, Adnan Zakir, M. Zubair and Rasheed.