ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in a surprise move handed over team’s captaincy to Shakeel Abbasi for the upcoming four-nation hockey tournament and International Super Hockey Series slated to be held in Australia from Oct 20 to Nov 4.

Apart from Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and India would be seen in action in Australia.

A source close to the team insisted that Mohammad Imran was fit when he joined the training camp several days back.

“The recovery of Imran after the malaria was slowand his reports during the training sessions were negative,” said the source.

“Now you have removed Imran from captaincy at a juncture when the Champions Trophy is one-month away,” the source added.

The Champions Trophy will be played in Auckland from December 3.

He added that the former captain was part of the squad since last eight months and featured in different events and “must have been retained as the captain.”

The source said: “Imran could have always been replaced during the matches in Australia if the coach felt he was not up to par. Imran should have been retained as captain because this will now have negative impact on players.”

“Players may have different opinions of playing under a new captain at a time when the former captain is also accompanying the squad,” said the official.

But the federation said that Imran was sick and suffering from malaria which led to his removal from the position and now he [Imran] has to ‘earn back’ his position.

PHF secretary Asif Bajwa, when approached by Dawn, maintained: “Imran is sick but still we have given him a chance to travel with the team mainly because we need him in the all important 2012 London Olympics. This is part of our build-up for the London Olympics.

“We are hopeful that he will regain his fitness and once proved fit he has to earn his position back with better fitness and professional skills needed among a leader.”

The former Olympian asserted that the Pakistan squad comprised the best available players.Squad:

Imran Shah (goalkeeper), Mohamamd Imran, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Irfan, Kashif Shah, Mohammad Rizwan Junior, Mohammad Tousiq, Waseem Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, Fareed Ahmed, Abdul Haseem Khan, Shakeel Abbasi (captain), Shafqat Rasool, Mohammad Waqas, Mohammad Rizwan Senior, Ali Shan, Mohammad Zubair, Umar Bhutta and Mohammad Irfan Junior.Officials:Khawaja Junaid (manager), Michel van dan Heuvel (head coach), Shahid Ali Khan & Ajmal Khan Lodhi (coaches), Faiz-ur-Rehman (physio), Nadeem Khan Lodhi (video analyst).