KARACHI, 30 June 2006 — Pakistan’s hockey team returned home from Malaysia last week after giving one of their worst results in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in recent years.
Looking to find some sort of form in the lead up to this September’s World Cup in Germany, the Pakistanis instead stumbled in the eight-nation contest, finishing fifth just ahead of Korea, Argentina and hosts Malaysia.
Even India, whom Pakistan have been beating quite comfortably in recent years, finished ahead of the Greenshirts as under new coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran they took home a rare bronze medal from Kuala Lumpur.
It was Pakistan’s first international outing since the country’s hockey authorities gave the team’s coach Asif Bajwa sweeping powers and if the results in Kuala Lumpur are any yardstick then the record four-time World Cup champions should kiss their dream of regaining the prestigious title in Mocnshengladbach this fall goodbye.
Pakistan lost 0-2 to Argentina in a make-or-break game in the Azlan Shah Cup and were also unable to beat New Zealand with whom they barely managed a 3-3 draw. Now both Argentina and New Zealand are bracketed with Pakistan in Group A of the 12-nation World Cup and are regarded among the weaker teams in the group that also has two major title contenders — Australia and Spain.
The question is: If Pakistan cannot beat Argentina and New Zealand in a low-pressure event like the Azlan Shah Cup then how can anybody expect them to prevail over teams like Australia and Spain in the high-profile World Cup? Coach Bajwa and skipper Muhammad Saqlain had promised improved results in Kuala Lumpur after the national team escaped a disaster in China this spring. Pakistan barely qualified for the World Cup when they finished fourth in the World Cup Qualifiers in April and at that time the coach had blamed “too much hockey” for the disappointing result. He had claimed that his players were burned out because of a hectic international schedule.
The Pakistani squad went to Malaysia after several weeks of rest that was followed by a strenuous training camp in Karachi. The team picked for the invitational event was completely of Bajwa’s choice as he, being the team’s coach and manager, handpicked players for the contest. Pakistan, who won a bronze even with a second string team last year, have seldom returned home without a medal from the Azlan Shah Cup.
They were seeded to qualify for the semifinals along with Holland. And after beating Holland 3-2 in their opening match, qualifying for the last-four should have been a cakewalk.
But as usual, the team’s performance dipped. It played a 3-3 draw against the Kiwis and were then blanked 2-0 by Argentina, a result that forced them to play in the 5-6 position playoff against Korea. Pakistan won 4-1 for a face-saving fifth place in the contest.
The KL disappointment would ignite another debate on whether the national team is in safe hands. Bajwa, who is rejected by most of the country’s former Olympians as inexperienced and immature, was supposed to lose his job over the dismal showing in China but was instead rewarded with a promotion by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).
The PHF kept its faith in the former Olympian and decided to get rid of team manager Saeed Khan following the World Cup qualifiers. Bajwa was made the team’s coach-cum-manager till the World Cup.
The question that would continue to haunt Pakistani hockey fans over the next several weeks is whether Bajwa is the right choice to lead the national team’s campaign in the Sept. 6-17 World Cup in Germany. At the moment, it doesn’t seem so.
