KARACHI, 17 February 2006 — Pakistan’s hockey team crossed the Wagah Border check point on it way to Chandigarh on Wednesday to play the first leg of a six-match test series against India starting from today. National coach Asif Bajwa promised before the team’s departure that Pakistan would go all out to take a lead in the first three games of the series in India.
“If we win a couple of games in India it would give us a big advantage,” said the Pakistani coach. The first two matches of the series would be played under floodlights in Chandigarh on Feb. 17 and 18. Jallandhar would host the third game on Feb. 20. The remaining three matches of the series would be played in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Lahore.
The series has been squeezed within a short 10-day period because of next month’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where both Pakistan and India are among the competing teams. The Games would take place from March 15 to 26. Bajwa pointed out Pakistan would be playing their opening game of the Commonwealth Games against India, which is why the forthcoming series would give him an opportunity to do some experimentation with various combinations before the Melbourne assignment. Bajwa said that the players have been told that their inclusion in the team for the Commonwealth Games would depend on their performance in the series against India.
Pakistan would drop four players from its 20-member squad as just 16 players would be allowed to play in Melbourne where Pakistan are the second seeds behind hosts and Olympic champions Australia. “The team would be reduced to 16 on the basis of how our players fare in the coming six matches,” Bajwa told this correspondent before the team’s departure to India. Pakistan captain Muhammad Saqlain said that he and fellow team players have learnt from their mistakes in the 2005 Champions Trophy in Chennai last December and would try to overcome their shortcomings in the series. Pakistan finished a poor fifth position in the six-nation event.
