KARACHI, 1 February — Pakistan’s morale-boosting triumph in an invitational six-nation tournament in Kuala Lumpur just weeks before the World Cup has put the national hockey officials in a fix.
When the green shirts were leaving for the Kuala Lumpur tournament held as a warm-up event for the World Cup starting in the Malaysian capital from Feb. 24, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) dropped three of their key players from the 18-member squad on fitness grounds.
Former Pakistan skipper Atif Bashir who can play both as a right winger and a center forward, former vice captain Nadeem ND, another very experienced utility forward and fullback Zeeshan Ashraf were the players dropped earlier this month from the national squad.
The idea was to give these senior players "some rest" before the all-important World Cup which was last won by the Pakistanis in 1994 in Sydney. Youngsters Sameer Hussain and Saleem Khalid were brought in as replacements for Atif and Nadeem while Sydney Olympian Ali Raza was recalled to fill in for Zeeshan.
The PHF had planned to use the six-nation tournament to give their players match practice before the World Cup and were not really expecting them to actually win the title in the presence of teams like world and Olympic champions Holland and Olympic bronze medalists Australia.
Hosts Malaysia, New Zealand and Japan were the other three participating nations. But the green shirts who failed miserably in last November’s six-nation Champions Trophy in Rotterdam (Holland) where they finished fourth, were a completely different side in Kuala Lumpur where they won the title beating Australia 4-3 in the final.
They annexed the title undefeated in the tournament where they started with a surprising 3-0 victory over Holland. The six-nation crown is Pakistan’s first international title in almost two years. Their last victory came in the 2000 Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
The superb performance by Pakistan who were inspired by their 1994 World Cup hero Shahbaz Ahmed — voted as the best player of the final against Australia on Saturday night — will result in a selection dilemma for Pakistani officials when they sit down to finalize the national squad for the World Cup on Feb. 11. The national selectors will certainly want to bring back the fit-again seniors — Atif, Nadeem and Zeeshan — but at the cost of disturbing what is now a winning combination.
In Pakistan hockey, bringing changes to a winning side is never welcomed and the World Cup selection process will be no exception.
However, the senior players will be given a chance to prove their form and fitness when a one-day trial session to select an 18-member World Cup squad will be organized at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore on Feb. 10 or 11.
"We have decided to hold trials to give a chance to some of our key players who were not available for the six-nation tournament because of injuries," said PHF secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan while talking to this correspondent on Sunday.
Musarrat praised the performance of players like Saleem Khalid and Sameer Hussain but added that for a big event like the 16-nation World Cup the PHF will have to prefer experience over youth.
"Players like Atif and Nadeem are very experienced and we would like them to be back in the side if they are fully fit."
Atif was out of competitive hockey since November when he dislocated his shoulder during the Rotterdam Champions Trophy. Nadeem fractured his finger in training last month. Both have now recovered and will participate in the final World Cup training camp starting in Lahore from Jan. 31. A total of 28 players including the 18 members of the Pakistan team who are scheduled to reach home from Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night will take part in the camp.
