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| May 14, 2003 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1424 |
Alam named captain in place of axed Nadeem
LAHORE, May 13: Mohammad Nadeem on Tuesday was axed from the hockey squad which saw four changes and reshuffled management for the two three-nation tournaments in Australia from May 29 to June 8.
The squad was announced after two-day trials at the National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
Nadeem was not considered for going to Germany thout the permission of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). The vice-captain of the Azlan Shah Cup-winning squad Waseem Ahmad, Sohail Abbas and Aamir Saleem also opted to play abroad and did not report for the camp training. Nadeem, however, returned back but was not considered.
Ahmad Alam has been renamed as captain in place of Nadeem. The goalkeeper had opted to announce retirement after the team finished fifth in the Azlan Shah Cup in 2001. But he reversed his decision and came back in 2002 to tour Spain and played Commonwealth Games, Champions Trophy and Asian Games.
The team performed badly in all the events as it could not secure a single victory.
In another surprise move, coach Shahnaz Sheikh has been elevated as manager, while assistant coach Tahir Zaman, who was demoted after last year’s pathetic showing in three events, has been promoted as coach. Shahid Ali Khan will now assist Tahir.
The changes in the team management came after manager Col Shahid Jaffery died on Saturday due to cardiac arrest.
“We have considered different options regarding the team management and this is the best one. The death of Jaffery created a gap which could be filled by many talented persons in the country. But we decided against bringing a new man at this stage,” the PHF president Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan said.
He said Nadeem was given an opportunity to explain his side of story but PHF decided no to include him in the squad for the tournament and dropped him while decision on other three players would also be taken after their receiving their explanations.
Gen Aziz said Nadeem as a skipper should have been be more responsible and his irresponsible attitude could not be tolerated.
“When you have to decide between country, Pakistan Hockey Federation and individual, then the individual has no importance,” he said.
He said Nadeem was a fine player and he would regain a place in the team in future and added Ahmad had been given another chance to lead the team.
Goalkeeper Mohammad Qasim, who was the part of Azlan Shah Cup-winning side was the major omission. He has been replaced with Salman Akbar. Sohail’s place has been filled in with Zeeshan Ashraf.
Waseem has been replaced by Ghazanfar Ali who also went abroad to play in league before this year’s national championship without informing PHF.
He was called for the Azlan Shah Cup’s training camp but he preferred to play in England. Tariq Aziz, who led the Pakistan junior team in a tournament in Egypt will fill Nadeem’s place.
Former skipper Mohammad Sarwar failed to get the nod of the selectors. Sarwar had scored 18 goals in the last national championship while Sohail was top-scorer with 20 goals.
Chief selector Akhtar Rasool said Sarwar did not impress with his performance in the camp and in the national championship. But the doors were still open for Sarwar, provided he improve his performance, he added.
The PHF president further said the inclusion of four upcoming players in the team was an investment with an aim to prepare a strong team for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Ahmad Alam (captain), Salman Akbar.
Full-backs: Ali Raza (vice-captain), Tariq Imran, Zeeshan Ashraf.
Half-backs: Ghazanfar Ali, Dilawar, Saqlain, Adnan Maqsood, Imran Rasool.
Forwards: Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan, Kashif Jawwad, Shakeel Abbasi, Shabbir Husain, Aqeel Ahmad, Saleem Khalid, Tariq Aziz.
Stand-byes: Nasir, Tariq Yameen, Mohammad Ikhlaq, Imran Khan, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Asim, Shahid Waseem, Mohammad Arif, Shahid Rabbani, Zahid Afzal, Mohammad Mukhtar.
Officials: Shahnaz Sheikh (manager), Tahir Zaman (coach), Shahid Ali Khan (assistant coach).
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