March 24, 2003	Monday	Muharram 20, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 23: With an eye on the future, Pakistan tennis boss, Syed Dilawar Abbas is aiming to create a new Davis Cup team and already he has taken the first step.

The party of four named for next month’s Asia Oceania Group I playoff against Japan Saturday therefore comprises three new faces along with Pakistan No. 1 Aqeel Khan.

Shahzad Khan, Shahzad Samad Khan and Inam Gul are the three players who will be making their Davis Cup debut in the Japanese city of Toyota where the tie is pencilled in for April 4 to 6.

“We have to look to the future and no matter how the new players fare in Japan, I intend to add another two when the team returns,” said Dilawar who has been in office for almost one year now.

In this short period, tennis activity has surely increased and two former Davis Cup players Hameedul Haq and Mushaf Zia agree the sport under Dilawar is heading in the right direction.

Hameed, once a vocal critic of the PTF says that no former president of the federation has had the imagination and guts to induct youngsters into the Davis Cup squad. “The results might not come quickly but by pumping in fresh blood now, we are doing the right thing for the game we all love,” he said.

Mushaf, who is coaching the Davis Cup team along with Hameed, also had similar views and said that it was the right time to plan for the future.

Outlining his plans, Dilawar said that he planned to hold a six-month camp for the players between April and September in Islamabad and would appoint a trainer and two coaches.

Of the two players he will be adding to the squad, one is Mehr Nisar while the other is a boy from Karachi, whom Dilawar did not name. “Only Aqeel would be the senior player left in the new combination.”

The PTF recently showed the aging Asim Shafik and Nomi Qamar the door after Pakistan were hammered 5-0 by New Zealand in Hamilton last month. Shahzad Samad and Shahzad Khan were named to replace them.

Then Aisamul Haq suddenly announced last week that he was pulling out of the Japan tie because he was not fit enough. He never reported to the camp being held at the PTF Complex in Islamabad. In his place Inam Gul was brought in.

These are bold moves made by the PTF and may take time to pay dividends yet somebody had to take the initiative. That Dilawar has done so is indeed commendable.