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Sources told Dawn.com, as the senior players are under fire for performing poorly at the World Cup in New Delhi where Pakistan finished at bottom in the 12-nation prestigious event, there are strong chances that Rehan might be axed for the forthcoming event which starts from May 6 in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Rehan has been under spotlight for some time for being involved in controversies and not performing well. The former captain was fined Rs100,000 by National Assembly's Standing Committee on Sports for having pictures while hugging team's liaison officer and apparently drinking alcohol during Champions Challenge in Salta, Argentina, earlier this year.
Rehan's team manager Asif Bajwa and coach Shahid Ali Khan were also slapped Rs50,000 penalty for failing in enforcing discipline among team members.
There are also reports of a tussle between Rehan and his teammate Shakeel Abbasi during the World Cup. It is believed that clash between Rehan and Shakeel is one of the reasons why Pakistan team looked a disjointed lot during the showpiece event of the game.
Rehan, however, believes that selectors cannot take risk by putting the senior players on the chopping block.
“I feel team can never play without senior players. I agree we didn't perform well at the World Cup despite having seniors, but it will be too risky to make many changes to the World Cup squad as presence of the seniors is necessary considering the pressure on the team after the debacle in New Delhi,” Rehan told Dawn.com.
Apart from Rehan, goalkeeper Nasir Ahmad may also not get the selectors nod. The diminutive custodian was not fielded at the World Cup despite Salman Akbar's unimpressive performance. If Nasir is dropped, then Imran Butt and Imran Shah will be the obvious choice for the selectors, although they cannot be even considered average goalkeepers, especially Imran Shah.
Among other World Cup squad members likely to be axed are forward Umar Bhutta and half-back Sajjad Anwar.
Pakistan will also not be having the services of goalkeeper Salman and left-out Abbas Haider as both players have opted to play in league in Europe instead of national duty. The green shirts will also be without Zeeshan Ashraf, Waseem Ahmad and Akhtar Ali as Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) claims they have requested for “rest”, although it is believed that PHF secretary Asif Bajwa had asked them to rest, fearing they might become hostile if dropped.
Among others from the World Cup who might be retained are Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Imran, Fareed Ahmad, Shakeel Abbasi, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Zubair and Haseem Khan.
In the absence of senior players, selectors have decided to infuse young blood by introducing fresh faces. Among youngsters likely to make debut will be full-back Kashif Ali, half-backs Muhammad Tauseeq, Amir Shahzad, Zaheer Ahmad, and forward Shahbaz Ali.
Forwards Wasqas Shareef and Shafqat Rasool, are also likely to be in the squad, while lanky full-back Muhammad Ateeq, who is a penalty corner specialist and was the top-scorer of the recently-concluded national hockey championship, is also in contention for a place in the squad.
While there are indications about radical changes in the team for Azlan Shah Cup, team manager-cum-coach Khwaja Junaid feels there will not be hardly few new players.
“I do not see any radical changes taking place in the squad which took part in the World Cup,” he said.
Ironically, when there is hardly few days left in the Azlan Shah Cup, team management is trying players on different positions which might put team's preparation in jeopardy. For example, Fareed, who is basically a half-back, is playing as centre-forward, while right-in Shakeel as left-out.
In another blunder, team management put the physical fitness of the national players at risk by holding evening session under floodlights on Sunday at Iftikhar Syed Sports Academy's newly-laid hockey pitch which is uneven at several places. The pitch laid under the supervision of PHF director administration Iftikhar might have caused injuries to the players before the event.
Apart from deliberations on the final squad, PHF also faces captaincy issue. However, if Rehan is axed and Sohail is retained then the penalty corner specialist seems to be the only choice for captaincy being the most senior among the players. Sources, however, say like Rehan, Shakeel is also desperate to become captain.
