May 15, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1424

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LAHORE, May 14: Shahnaz Sheikh, who was named manager and relieved as coach of the Pakistan hockey team, claimed on Wednesday that only the title had changed otherwise the responsibilities were the same. He replaced Col Shahid Jaffery who died recently.

Tahir Zaman was named as coach with former Olympian Shahid Ali Khan as his depty.

Pakistan announced 18-member team on Tuesday for back to back tournaments to be played in Australia during May 28-June 8.

“We are all coaches and we are all managers. The change of title makes little difference,” Shahnaz said.

He said that the players were selected with the consent of  the team management.

When asked if the team was announced with his consent  then did he agree to the ouster of former skipper Muhammad Sarwar, Shahnaz replied that it was a collective decision.

Shahnaz said that Sarwar competed with Shabbir and the latter impressed the selectors.

When it was pointed that India had recently recalled some senior players for the Australian trip, but Pakistan despite being without three star players Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad and Muhammad Nadeem had left out another experienced player Sarwar,

Shahnaz believed that the team was still balanced and had the ability to deliver.

About Tariq Aziz, who has also been selected in  the  senior team for the first time, Shahnaz commented that boy was a very talented and had been unanimously selected.

Tariq is capable of playing at left-in and left-out without any problems, he added.

Meanwhile, half-back, Imran Rasool got his right thumb injured during the national hockey training camp at the National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.

Imran who had been selected in the Pakistan 18-member team for the  Australian tour, was injured during a penalty-corner drill.

He will resume training in a couple of days.

Pakistan, India, Australia and Australia “A” are the four teams competing in both tournaments. The first tournament will be played at Perth from May 28 to June 1, followed by the second at Sydney from June 4 to 8.

Following is the schedule of the Pakistan matches:

Perth: May 28: vs Australia. May 29: vs India May 31: vs Australia “A” June 1: Positional matches. Sydney: June 4: vs Australia “A”. June 5: vs Australia. June 7: vs India. June 8: Positional matches.