April 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 06, 1428

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KARACHI, April 23: Pakistan sprung a surprise by infusing young blood into the Azlan Shah Cup squad, naming three new faces on Monday as vice-captain Shakeel Abbasi was axed for the tournament commencing May 5 in the Malaysian city of Ipoh.

Making their international debut will be half-back Rana Asif, forwards Ishtiaq Ahmad and Mohammad Amin, while Mohammad Waqas, Mohammad Mudassir and talented Rashid Imran have also been dropped.

While it seems to be a good start by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) bigwigs who have opted to introduce fresh pair of legs, it is rather contrary to the claims made by manager-cum-chief coach Islahuddin Siddiqui two days earlier.

Just 48 hours ago, Islah had clearly stated that there would be no major changes in the squad that participated in Doha Asian Games last December.

The former Pakistan captain had disagreed that young blood should be infused to form a new-look and youthful Olympic squad although Pakistan would not be playing any major event before 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The present scenario obviously suggests that although Islah has been hired as paid official, others are calling the shots.

Interestingly, on the opening day of the training camp coach Manzoorul Hassan had expressed confidence in Amin, Ishtiaq and Abbas Haider for their ‘tremendous talent’. Two of them – Amin and Ishtiaq – are now in the squad, while Abbas is among standbys.

More astonishingly, while Islah was impressed with the physical fitness and “vigour” of the camp trainees during the camp, PHF president Zafarullah Jamali candidly said after watching the probables on the first day of trials on Sunday that he was unsure whether or not the team should be sent to Ipoh.

“I saw the players on the first day and observed that they lack enthusiasm and zeal. I had to send team coaches into the field to give the players a message to show some enthusiasm.

“I had said I would not be able to judge the players if they continue playing like this during trials and have to seriously think whether we should send the team or withdraw from the tournament,” Jamali told reporters at Hockey Club of Pakistan with a tinge of disappointment and sadness, adding, “we are praying, you also pray for the team.”

Earlier, Pakistan captain Rehan Butt had also admitted during the March 23-31 National Championship that the two-month-long Indian Premier Hockey League had left him fatigued. Islah was, however, confident that camp trainees were in fine fettle.

While PHF took a step forward by inducting three youngsters, it went two step backwards by naming a freeloader who would travel with the squad as assistant manager.

Jamali said Qazi Masood would be among the team officials as assistant manager, but was indeed unconvincing when asked how he would justify the appointment since PHF ‘faced a financial crisis’ in his own words.

“It has been a tradition that an assistant manager always travel with the team whenever it tours abroad. As the manager will be busy in other affairs, we need an assistant manager as well,” Jamali said.

According to former PHF secretary, Jamali had also obliged Qazi, who is a junior clerk from Rajanpur, by nominating him for the post of treasurer of Asian Hockey Federation.

Announcing Olympian Khwaja Zakauddin as the new chief selector, Jamali claimed that Khalid Mahmood, who is also the PHF secretary, was not relieved as chairman of selection committee even after getting elected as PHF official on April 2. Surprisingly, Jamali and Khalid never claimed this when asked on Sunday about the new chief selector.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmad.

Full-back: Ehsanullah, Zeeshan Ashraf (vice-captain), Imran Warsi, Mohammad Imran.

Half-backs: Imran Khan, Adnan Maqsood, Sajjad Anwar, Rana Asif.

Forwards: Rehan Butt (captain), Ishtiaq Ahmad, Mohammad Amin, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Ali, Waqas Sharif, Mohammad Shabbir, Mohammad Zubair.

Standbys: Shakir Munir, Majid Khan, Kashif, Sumair Saleem, Yasir Islam, Saeed Shah, Asim Khan, Abbas Haider.

Officials: Islahuddin Siddiqui (manager-cum-chief coach), Qazi Masood (assistant manager), Manzoorul Hassan (coach), Faiz (physiotherapist), Nadeem Lodhi (video analyst).