KARACHI: Pakistan have decided to recall a number of previously discarded senior players including drag flick ace Sohail Abbas in a provisional squad for this May’s Asia Cup hockey tournament in Dubai.
A national selector told Arab News on Saturday that Sohail and former captain Wasim Ahmed have impressed with their form and fitness in the ongoing National Hockey Championship and are now in contention for places in the national squad.
“Players like Sohail and Wasim have loads of experience and they can strengthen our team,” said Muhammad Shafiq, a member of the national selection committee, headed by Hassan Sardar.
However, Shafiq said that the selection committee would include those players that will make themselves available three weeks before the tournament.
“The committee agrees with the PHF policy of allowing only those players to be picked in the national team who are available for major events and preparatory camps preceding them,” he said.
Sohail, Wasim and several other leading players have in recent years signed lucrative contracts to play professional hockey leagues mostly in Europe.
In the past, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) adopted a tough stance against those players, blacklisting most of them after they skipped national training camps.
However, the current PHF top brass has a softened the stance in a bid to lure back some of the experienced players like Sohail Abbas, who is still regarded as one of the best short corner specialists in the world.
Shafiq said that after the final of the National Hockey Championship, the national selection committee would announce a list of 30 players for an Asia Cup preparatory camp. “The camp will get underway in Lahore from Feb. 20,” said the selector.
Players who have to feature in professional leagues might be exempted from the camp.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Ayaz Mahmood - who was appointed as Pakistan coach three months back - will return home from Moscow to supervise the training camp.
When contacted on Saturday, PHF President Qasim Zia was unable to answer that question. “I’m still looking into the matter and will let you know soon,” said the former Olympian, who has failed to get Ayaz and several other coaches released from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for national duty.
It is expected that PHF will soon take a decision on the coach issue. The Asia Cup is now just three months away and the PHF is yet to even begin preparing the national team for the biennial spectacle - Pakistan’s most important hockey assignment in 2009. The Asia Cup winners will earn a direct berth for the 2010 World Cup in India.
