August 26, 2007	Sunday	Sha’aban 12, 1428

KARACHI, Aug 25: Injury-prone penalty corner striker Imran Warsi staged an expected comeback on Saturday when an 18-member Asia Cup hockey squad was finalised while talented forward Rashid Imran was overlooked for the 11-nation event.

Majid Khan, who had replaced Warsi for Good Luck Beijing tournament earlier this month, has been dropped to “accommodate” the drag-flicker who opted to stay at home to recover from a nagging shoulder injury.

Team manager-cum-coach Islahuddin Siddiqui, who made the changes along with coach Manzoorul Hassan, however, admitted that Warsi was his third-choice penalty corner specialist.

“At the moment, Mohammad Imran is the best in short corner strikes followed by Ihsan Ullah Khan while I put Warsi at third place and Kashif (Ali) at fourth on my list after considering their performances,” Islah told Dawn at Hockey Club of Pakistan after the final evening session.

Warsi has been nursing a shoulder injury for quite some time. He faced the same problem at June’s President’s Gold Cup and then requested the team management to allow him some rest for the Beijing competition.

While Islah claimed full fitness of Warsi, the possible aggravation of the player’s injury during the Asia Cup might create problems for green shirts who are looking at the event as a build-up campaign for December’s Champions Trophy and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Islah said that although Warsi had recovered from the injury, he would prepare a contingency plan to prevent any mishap.

“I will be preparing a plan to tackle that problem as we have to play Champions Trophy and Olympic Games in near future.”

Islah was firm in Rashid’s case, saying the right-in didn’t have the spark which was why he never made it to the squad.

“He (Rashid) doesn’t have that brilliance which is required and that’s why he never managed a place since I have taken over. Yasir (Islam) is much better than him,” he said.

The chief coach’s logic, however, appeared strange since it was he who had been calling the forward to the training camps. Yasir Islam, who returned after a two-year gap at the four-nation event in Moscow earlier this year, has been retained as right-in. He received a few stitches after injuring his chin on the opening day of the camp.

While Islah completely ruled Rashid out as a fine talent for the future, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Khalid Mahmood agreed he had potential and would be given a chance in future.

“I agree that he (Rashid) is a talented player. Rashid and Yasir are almost equal in performance. But changes take place and Rashid will be given an opportunity in future. If he is out now, it doesn’t mean he can never come in,” said the PHF official.

Apart from Warsi’s inclusion and Majid’s ouster, the team management has decided to retain the squad which participated in the Beijing event. Rehan Butt has also been retained as skipper.

The continental event, which starts from Aug 31 in Chennai, will see Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, in action.

The squad leaves Sunday night for the south Indian city.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmad.

Full-backs: Ihsan Ullah Khan, Mohammad Imran, Imran Warsi, Kashif Ali.

Half-backs: Imran Khan, Rana Asif, Mohammad Mudassir, Waqas Zafar.

Forwards: Rehan Butt (captain), Yasir Islam, Shakeel Abbasi, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Ali, Waqas Sharif, Mohammad Arshad, Abbas Haider.

Officials: Islahuddin Siddiqui (manager-cum-chief coach), Manzoorul Hassan (coach), Abdul Rauf (assistant coach), Nadeem Lodhi (video analyst), Faizur Rahman (physiotherapist).