AT the time of writing, Pakistan has just won its encounter against Malaysia in the Azlan Shah Cup. With the way the team has performed thus far, I have no doubt that the team would be playing the final against Germany in a few hours time as you read these lines. If it happens any other way, I will be seriously shocked. In fact, I will still be disappointed if the team fails to clinch the gold medal for it is participating in the tournament after a change of guards as far as the team management is concerned. The changes incorporated by the Pakistan Hockey Federation, I am sure, will have given boost to the confidence and skill level of all concerned, and the team will do its best to reflect that in terms of end result.
I will be getting back to the Malaysia outing in the weeks ahead. For the time being, let us have a look at the wonderful performance delivered by the national second string that recently participated in a tournament in Egypt. It was a heartening performance, indeed, and was a tremendous improvement upon the results achieved in a similar event in Egypt a year ago. The PHF, again, deserves the credit for such a quick change in fortunes of the second string.
What I cannot say for sure is whether the team that took part in the tournament this year was Pakistan Whites or Pakistan Juniors. If it was the Whites - which is truly the second string without any age bracket - the performance, as I said earlier, deserves to be lauded. However, if the unit was deemed to be the Junior string - which, as the name suggests, does carry an age limit - I am afraid I will have to disagree with the team selection.
The team did carry a few players who were not picked up by the national selectors last year. This was done not because of any fault on the part of the players, but simply because it was argued that only those players should be selected who will still be in contention when the next Junior World Cup comes around. This year, players like full-back Imran Warsi, goalkeeper Salman Akbar and a few others who were not selected last year were picked up to bolster the side, which they, indeed, did.
The team last year had not done well, but they were not expected to perform miracles. The side was selected in order to build a Junior string with the next World Cup in mind. With the induction of players who will not be able to participate in the Junior World Cup, the PHF appears to have gone for short-term success at the altar of long-term sustenance, which, to my mind, is not the correct way ahead.
If we don’t expose our youngsters to the international environment now, they will be struggling by the time the World Cup comes around. This, in turn, will shatter their confidence and their transition to the national side will not be smooth, to say the least. Building a team from scratch is not easy. It requires patience and guts to take bold decisions when they are required. Not everyone can do this.
AT the time of writing, Pakistan has just won its encounter against Malaysia in the Azlan Shah Cup. With the way the team has performed thus far, I have no doubt that the team would be playing the final against Germany in a few hours time as you read these lines. If it happens any other way, I will be seriously shocked. In fact, I will still be disappointed if the team fails to clinch the gold medal for it is participating in the tournament after a change of guards as far as the team management is concerned. The changes incorporated by the Pakistan Hockey Federation, I am sure, will have given boost to the confidence and skill level of all concerned, and the team will do its best to reflect that in terms of end result.
