WITH the team having been announced by the PHF selectors, the team has now well and truly entered the last phase of its preparation for the Champions Trophy, which is going to be a tough test for all concerned. While the team will naturally carry the momentum it was able to generate in its previous assignment in Holland, the Rabo Trophy victory will also have its side-effects on the team.
When a team wins such a major high-profile tournament as the eight-nation Rabo Cup, which was contested by all the major international teams, it is only logical that others start taking you that much more seriously for the next few tournaments which for the team concerned — Pakistan in this case — represents a make-or-break opportunity. If it can withstand the pressure and still put up a spirited display, it can hold its head high. Otherwise, it is back to square one and you have to start all over again.
Which way the national team would go after the tournament is something that we will have to wait and see, but by the looks of it, and, as has been claimed by Pakistan Hockey Federation bosses, the team selected has the potential to avoid the pitfall of making a fool of itself.
Personally speaking, I find much sense in the selection this time because due effort has been made to keep intact the winning combination. Nothing succeeds like success, goes the maxim and it applies to hockey as well. There are only two new faces; those of Sajjad Anwar and Waqar Sharif, who have replaced Ghazanfar Ali and Kashif Yaqoob. Ghazanfar, as has been reported in the media already, failed to report at the training camp because he is not just playing league hockey in England, but also has some personal issues to settle there. This naturally is something which is beyond the control of the PHF.
As for Kashif Yaqub, it is a professional approach on the part of the PHF that even when he had to be dropped, he has still been kept in the reserves, which will give a sense of the participation to the young lad, who would know that he is still in the scheme of things.
Mudassir Ali Khan, who spent some time in recent days on the sidelines because of injuries, has also been retained not just as a player but as the vice-captain as well. This again is indicative of the PHF approach not to disrupt the winning combination. Mudassir, of course, is a seasoned campaigner, and would hopefully blend with the team in the fortnight or so between now and the start of the tournament.
While there is little doubt that Mohammad Saqlain will continue to lead the side, the FIH hearing on November 27 is still a worry in the national camp. The PHF has done well by hiring the services of a professional lawyer who will fight Saqlain’s case before International Hockey Federation. Keeping in view the facts of the matter, I hope that the national captain will at least not be banned, even in case of a decision against him, the PHF will still have the right to file an appeal to the International Olympic Committee, which has the authority to suspend the decision of the FIH. This is the worst-case scenario in the matter, and Saqlain will still be able to take part in the Champions Trophy till the IOC decision is made public after the review process.
With the winning combination having been retained, the PHF has done its job. Now it is up to the players and the team management to face the challenge and conquer it. This is going to take some doing because the competition will be tough, as is always the case with the Champions Trophy because of its format. The team is surely capable of doing it, just as it showed to the world during its last international assignment, but it will have to take each match as the final. In the Champions Trophy, there is no margin of error, and no time to recover from early disappointments.
WITH the team having been announced by the PHF selectors, the team has now well and truly entered the last phase of its preparation for the Champions Trophy, which is going to be a tough test for all concerned. While the team will naturally carry the momentum it was able to generate in its previous assignment in Holland, the Rabo Trophy victory will also have its side-effects on the team.
As for Kashif Yaqub, it is a professional approach on the part of the PHF that even when he had to be dropped, he has still been kept in the reserves, which will give a sense of the participation to the young lad, who would know that he is still in the scheme of things.
