KARACHI, 23 September 2004 — India’s hockey team arrived here yesterday pledging to give Pakistan a tough time in their own backyard during the first leg of the long-awaited eight-match test series.

The tests are scheduled to kick-off with the opening game in Karachi later this week.

“We are here to play good hockey and are confident that our team would give its best in the series,”

said Indian skipper Dilip Tirkey.

The experienced defender is at the helm of an 18-member Indian squad that is without a number of stars including veteran Dhanraj Pillay.

Tirkey’s men have ended up on the losing end in all six meetings with Pakistan this year and on paper do not appear to challenge the superiority of their old rivals in the forthcoming series.

But Tirkey warned Pakistan against taking his team lightly saying that his boys were capable of reversing the tide. “We may have lost the last six games against Pakistan but that will not matter much for us in the coming matches. We would try our best to produce better results during our tour,” he said.

India will also play in Quetta (Sept. 27), Peshawar (Sept. 29) and Lahore (Oct. 1) after the first test here at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium on Sept. 24. The remaining four matches of the series will take place in India from Oct. 4 to 10.

Pakistan have arranged tight security for the visitors even as Tirkey said he and fellow players feel “quite safe” here. “I had come to Pakistan for a test series nearly five years back and not for one moment did I feel unsafe here. Now that I’m back here the feeling remains the same and I think other players of the team also feel the same way when it comes to our safety.”

India’s German coach Gerhard Rach rejects the impression that the exclusion of the senior players has weakened his team.

“Its wrong to think that we have left out any good players. We have only dropped either aging players or because they were injured,” said Rach.

Rach expects his team to play well in the series that “matters so much for both India and Pakistan.”

“All eyes of the Indian and Pakistani people would be on this series which makes it very important for both teams,” said Rach who is eager to be a part of the famous India-Pakistan rivalry that is still one of the hallmarks of the sport at the international level.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s newly appointed captain Waseem Ahmed said yesterday that he and his teammates have overcame the disappointment of finishing fifth in the Athens Games and were now focusing on the upcoming test series against India.

“After so much hard work it was heartbreaking not to win a medal in Athens but now we have slowly come out of the depressive period and are fully ready to take on India,” said Waseem. Waseem was yesterday named as captain of the Pakistan hockey team for the test series against India. Short corner specialist Sohail Abbas was named as the team’s vice captain.

The most seasoned player in the national team, Waseem replaced Muhammad Nadeem ND as the new skipper. Nadeem decided to retire from international hockey soon after the national team returned home from Athens.

Waseem pointed out that his team was an ideal blend of experience and youth and has enormous potential.

“We were unlucky to finish fifth in the Olympic Games,” said Waseem who rates Pakistan alongside the best teams in international hockey.

Waseem agreed that Pakistan appears stronger than India but was quick to make it clear that he and his team would not be taking anything for granted against their traditional rivals in the eight-match series.

“Yes on paper we are much stronger but anything can happen on the hockey field. Even if you are very good if you start taking your opponents likely then you should be ready for surprises.”

Waseem said that the series would be a good opportunity for the team management to try out a few youngsters in a bid to raise a strong outfit for this December’s Champions Trophy in Lahore.

“Champions Trophy is our major target and I am very hopeful that our team will do well in the event provided that we continue working hard.”

“It will be important for us that our boys are fine tuned before the match as we would like to start off the series with a positive result,” said Pakistan’s newly-appointed coach Asif Bajwa.

Bajwa, also Pakistan’s junior team coach, was at the helm of the physical training sessions on the opening day of the camp in the absence of the team’s head coach Roelant Oltmans. The Dutchman is scheduled to arrive in Karachi early today.