October 21, 2007	Sunday	Shawwal 8, 1428

KARACHI, Oct 20: Injury-plagued full-back Imran Warsi, the blue-eyed boy of Pakistan team manager Islahuddin Siddiqui, has been ruled out for forthcoming Champions Trophy after he finally revealed he was physically unfit and recently had a shoulder surgery.

“I have received information today from Imran Warsi that he will not be available for Champions Trophy as he recently had arthroscopy on his right shoulder in Bangalore, India. He has been advised rest by doctor at least till Jan 3, 2008 which means he is out of contention for trophy squad,” Islah told Dawn on Saturday.

Imran’s case, however, demands penalty as it was he who had assured that he had been given a clean bill of health by his doctor on which Islah had included him in the Asia Cup squad in August.

Islah, who was given sweeping selection powers by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) chief Zafarullah Jamali for the Asia Cup, had also thrown his weight behind Imran.

However, manager’s decision was indeed illogical and risky as he accommodated the full-back into the squad, although he was well aware of the nagging shoulder injury which had forced the defender to skip the domestic as well as the international events.

Imran’s fitness problem didn’t suddenly crop up as he was also nursing the shoulder injury in June and skipped few President’s Gold Cup matches while representing his department NBP. The full-back then opted to rest and skipped the Good Luck Beijing tournament in August.

According to Islah, Imran failed to impress at the Asia Cup and didn’t score a single goal despite being fielded in almost all the matches. The question is if the player was physical fit, why he faltered so badly at the Asia Cup in Chennai.

However, it all became crystal clear that Warsi was indeed unfit even during the Chennai event when he went to India for the surgery soon after the Asia Cup. He was recently been spotted at the UBL Sports Complex with his hand in shoulder sling after the surgery.

But for Islah, who is Pakistan’s first-ever paid manager-cum-chief coach, Imran’s hiding the facts from him and PHF, didn’t need any penalty.

“If somebody goes to have surgery without informing me or PHF, then what could be done? I can’t say at the moment what sort of punishment there should be,” said Islah, who only came to know about Imran’s antics through this scribe.

It is, however, strange how and why a paid manager doesn’t have knowledge about injuries and whereabouts of his players. Imran’s inclusion in the squad obviously seems to be favour from Islah as he only relied on full-back’s words and report from his doctor.

“I included him (Imran) in the squad as he had assured that he is fit and he apparently looked fit in the camp also. I had also personally asked Imran’s doctor about his fitness and he also gave a green signal,” said Islah but added he never consulted the PHF doctor to confirm the physical fitness of the player.

In this scenario, Islah’s hesitation in suggesting penalty for Warsi seems obvious as he had been instrumental in re-calling the defender and never consulted PHF-appointed or any other independent consultant.

Nevertheless, as expected the situation will surely hamper the green shirts’ build-up to 2008 Beijing Olympics. It would have been much better idea had unfit defender dropped and not recalled after four-nation in Moscow earlier this year.

Coach Manzoorul Hassan had also categorically stated that Imran had failed to impress during Asia Cup camp and didn’t seem to be improving.

Apart from Imran, Islah said, Ghazanfar Ali had also intimated that he would be available not before Oct 27 as he had to attend some “personal commitments” in England.

However, when asked the nature of those personal commitments, the manager said he had no clue about what sort of pressing engagements were keeping Ghazanfar away from the camp.

Sources, however, said Ghazanfar has been living in England for past two years and has not played domestic hockey in Pakistan since then.

Interestingly, Ghazanfar is one of the four banned players called up by the PHF for the Champions Trophy camp which rolls off on Sunday at the Hockey Club of Pakistan.

Ghazanfar, along with Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad and Dilawar Hussain, was banned by Jamali for refusing to join the Asian Games training camp last December, preferring monetary gains over national duty by featuring in foreign leagues.

Islah, however, said he had no idea about whereabouts of Sohail, Waseem and Dilawar and whether or not they would join the camp as they had not reported till our going to the press on Saturday.

“They should report today by dinner. Situation will be clear by tomorrow,” said Islah but refused to comment when asked would the players be accepted if they report on the training day (Sunday) instead of Saturday.

The four players, especially Sohail and Waseem, would regularly skip two or three days of the camp during their heyday.