RECENT news reports appearing in the media regarding the national team’s preparations for the forthcoming Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia make for sad reading. Sad, because there is no talent pool in the country to simultaneously compose two set of players. If the PHF gives priority to the national side, it is at the cost of depletion of resources in the Junior string. Likewise, if the PHF decides to send a strong and well-prepared team to the Junior World Cup, there are not enough hands available for the national squad. It is a sad reflection on where the national game stands today in the overall scheme of things.
Before someone accuses me of spreading undue pessimism, let me point out that the news reports concerned have quoted senior officials of Pakistan Hockey Federation, including secretary Musrarrtullah, coach Asif Bajwa and manager Samiullah. Since no one, till the point of writing these lines, has denied the quotations, I have to take them on face value.
The issue in question is about filling the slots left vacant in the national team by the absence for various reasons of Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, Ahmad Alam and Mohammad Sarwar. Practically, it is all about Sohail and Waseem because Ahmad and Sarwar were already out of the equation even when they were part of the squad. The PHF had sidelined them for no fault of their own, and, as far as I am concerned, they still had a couple of years left in them.
The absence of Sohail and Waseem was known to the PHF, its selectors and the team management for quite some time now because they had announced their retirement almost immediately after the last international outing. Why the issue was left to linger on for so long? And, why something was not done in time? These are questions that no one bothers to put to the PHF.
As a consequence of all this confusion, things have come to a pass where the national body is struggling to put together a squad for a low-profile event like the Azlan Shah Cup. Slated to be held next month, it will involve, other than Pakistan, teams from Australia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa. Missing form the lineup will be European teams, like World Champions Germany, Olympic silver medalist and defending champions Spain, England and, of course, Holland. All of these Europeans have decided to stay away from the tournament in order to prepare for the next year’s World Cup.
If we are struggling to announce a team for such a low-profile outing, I shudder to think what it would be like when it comes to something more meaningful, like, for instance, the Champions Trophy. It is no wonder that Bajwa is already calling it a “tough assignment”. The difference is there for all to see. Major teams are staying away from it because they think they can prepare much better at home than to waste time appearing in such a tournament, while for us it represents a tough assignment!
Also in recent times, I have seen much being made of two successive victories registered by the Junior string; first at the four-nation tournament at home, and then at the six-nation outing abroad. Naturally, any victory is sweet, and it gets even more so when it comes after an irritatingly and embarrassingly long time. However, it is also important that such victories must be viewed in proper perspective. The one at home came against South Africa, Japan and India, with the first two being there just to increase the number of teams in the tournament. As for the six-nation contest, most of the teams involved either did not even have proper FIH ranking, or had sent second-string sides, which is a routine affair for most major hockey-playing countries, especially the Europeans.
At the Junior World Cup in Holland, things would be much different, but I do hope that the team would be ready by the time the real challenge stares it in the face. For the moment, let’s keep our fingers crossed.
RECENT news reports appearing in the media regarding the national team’s preparations for the forthcoming Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia make for sad reading. Sad, because there is no talent pool in the country to simultaneously compose two set of players. If the PHF gives priority to the national side, it is at the cost of depletion of resources in the Junior string. Likewise, if the PHF decides to send a strong and well-prepared team to the Junior World Cup, there are not enough hands available for the national squad. It is a sad reflection on where the national game stands today in the overall scheme of things.
