KARACHI, 17 November 2006 — National hockey chief Zafarullah Khan Jamali has named a young 16-member squad for next month’s Asian Games in Doha with striker Rehan Butt as its new captain.
“The team is a blend of youth and experience and we expect it to deliver positive results in the Asian Games,” the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president told newsmen following a couple of trial sessions here at the Hockey Club of Pakistan. The team is without five key players including regular captain Muhammad Saqlain and short corner specialist Sohail Abbas, who were not considered as they missed a couple of Asian Games’ preparatory camps to play in professional leagues abroad. Four others including seasoned winger Muhammad Shabbir have been dropped because of medical reasons.
Jamali said that by not considering the senior players who he said skipped national duty for personal gains, the PHF has made it clear that there will be no compromise on discipline.
“Until I am president of the PHF, players who show such conduct would not be selected in the national team. These players have caused a lot of harm to hockey in Pakistan,” said Jamali, a former prime minister. Apart from Saqlain and Sohail, the other three senior players missing from the squad are midfielders Waseem Ahmed, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain. The players overlooked by the national selection committee because of medical reasons include Adnan Zakir, Waqas Akber and Akhtar Ali.
The only surprise in the team is the inclusion of young winger Rashid Imran. “He (Rashid) is a very talented boy and we hope he would boost our right flank,” said the team’s assistant coach Nasir Ali, a former Olympian.
The PHF appointed Rehan Butt, a prolific winger, as the Pakistan captain for the Asian Games to be held in the Qatari capital from December 1-15 while striker Shakeel Abbasi was named as his deputy. Butt, one of the senior most players left in the side, was the vice-captain of the Pakistani squad that finished a poor sixth place in this September’s World Cup in the German city of Monchengladbach.
“Leading Pakistan would be a big honour and I would try my best to take this team to the victory stand,” Butt said after the trials. “What we have is a young but capable team but I am expecting it to give good results in Doha.” Butt said that Pakistan would go all out to top their pool in Doha for an expected gold medal clash against defending champions Korea. “I am confident that my team will win all is pool matches and should go all out to play in the final.”
Pakistan, the highest-ranked team in Asia, are bracketed in Pool A of the Asian Games’ men’s hockey draws with Malaysia, Japan, Chinese Taipei and Hong. Korea head Pool B that also has India, China, Bangladesh and Oman.
“If we play to our potential, I don’t think we will face many problems in making it to the final,” said Butt.
