LAHORE: Former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh has slammed the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for taking an untimely decision of ignoring three senior players, namely Rehan Butt, Sohail Abbas and Salman Akbar, from the national side which has been announced for the upcoming inaugural Asian Champions Trophy, to be held in China from Sept 3.
“The main problem of the federation is its immaturity and lack of taking timely decisions and this has been observed since the current management took charge,” Shahnaz told Dawn in an interview.
He said the trio had been associated with the team for a long time, but all of a sudden, they had been sidelined, despite knowing their importance, especially against Asian teams.
“It is an important event as it will be followed by Champions Trophy and Olympics,” Shahnaz added.
“It is not the right time to replace seniors since the Champions Trophy is just four months away while the Olympics just 11 months,” he said.
To a question, he said had the PHF replaced the seniors after the 2010 World Cup, it would have been easier to groom the juniors for the mega events.
“Nevertheless, the composition of the team indicates that Pakistan will use defence strategy in the tournament, which was earlier used in 2010 World Cup and Commonwealth Games, from which Pakistan earned nothing but dismay and wrath of hockey lovers,” he said.
“Rehan is a front-line player and threat to the opponents. He has the ability to score goal and create opportunities and penalty-corners for Sohail. The latter’s presence on the field is not only morale boosting but also keeps pressure on the opponents,” he said.
About Salman, he went on to say, “The role of the goalkeeper in modern hockey is very important and it cannot be ignored. He played a key role in Pakistan’s win at the Asian Games.
“I think the selection committee did not keep this record in front of them before finalising the squad,” he said.
Shahnaz claimed the Pakistan squad was imbalance and did not have any mega star, who could pose a threat to the opponents.
He warned the PHF should not expect miracles from the experienced duo of Shakeel Abbasi and Wasim Ahmed.
Wasim had double role of feeding the front-line and helping the defence from immediate counter-attack by the opponents.
“Although Wasim is the oldest in the team, I am in favour of his selection for the Asian Champions Trophy,” he said.
Shahnaz, however, predicted that Pakistan could win the tournament if it shows consistency in its performance.
He said the Asian Champions Trophy was also important for Pakistan to maintain a unique record in the world of hockey of winning all the inaugural editions of the major tournaments.
“This inaugural trophy is very important as Pakistan has a unique record of winning all the inaugural tournaments, like Asian Games in 1958, World Cup in 1971, Champions Trophy in 1978, Junior World Cup in 1979 and Asia Cup in 1982.
“No hockey team in the world has such unprecedented record,” Shahnaz said.
Top Asian countries like Korea, India, China, Malaysia, Japan and Pakistan are participating in the Asian Champions Trophy.
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