03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

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LAHORE, Oct 2: Pakistan hockey team coach, Asif Bajwa said team must end its indifferent attitude in critical situations and the players should show adapt to the game plan of opponents to maintain supremacy in the four matches series in India.

"What we have seen in the recent past is that team behaves indifferently in critical situations and we have to get rid of this attitude if we want to win the Indian leg of the series ", said the newly appointed coach before the departure of the team to India on Saturday.

He said it was quite surprising that in a particular match some times the players perform too good and then all of a sudden their performa below par and bow down to the pressure which hampers their overall performance and restrict them from ahcieving desired results.

The former Olympian Bajwa said this attitude was unlike of a professional side and it had brought negative impact on the overall performance of the team. "They have to show consistency in all departments of the game and we are working on it to inspire the players to a level to perform upto their potential in tough situations", he said.

He said the chief coach Roelant Oltamns was working on eliminating grey areas of the team, specially a weaker defence and lapses in the forward line. "These shortcomings have now become chronic and we have to a create a new hockey culture of mental toughness for making our team more result-oriented", he added.

Bajwa said pressure shifts on Pakistan when it plays India in the four-match away series because home ground and crowd always a support to the host team.

Pakistan which leads the four match home series 2-1,will be opening their Indian tour with a match at New Delhi on Oct 4,Chandigarh on Oct 6, Amritsar on October 8 and Hyderabad on Oct 10. Pakistan won the opening match 2-1 at Karachi followed by a 4-1 defeat at Quetta and a 3-2 win at Peshawar and a 4-4 draw at Lahore.

The former Olympian Bajwa said young Indian team diplayed remarkable performance during the four matches in Pakistan, and expected that it would be a tougher rival when it plays in their own homeground.

"We were not expecting that level of performance from the Indian side and obviously it would be going all out to thwart our efforts of victory and in the given circumstances the next four matches become challenging for the both the sides", he said.

He expressed the hope that Pakistan team would maintain its supremacy to win the overall trophy.-APP