ISLAMABAD, Dec 19: Manager of the hockey team, Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar believes that veteran Shahbaz Ahmed could play a leading role in inspiring Pakistan at next year’s World Cup in Malaysia.

Khokhar, speaking to Dawn, said that Shahbaz is the kind of player whose brilliance can change the entire complexion of the game in no time. “Just a couple of his passes in a match could do the trick for us.”

Shahbaz, 35 put on his boots again last month in an unsuccessful bid to turn around Pakistan’s ailing fortunes in the Champions Trophy at Rotterdam where they finished a poor fourth.

Khokhar however said that the biting Rotterdam cold proved to be a handicap for his players not used to playing in such conditions. He conceded though that Shahbaz was not utilised properly in that tournament.

“The Champions Trophy is behind us and now we will be working on new ways how best to utilise Shahbaz and not to repeat our mistakes.”

The pencil-thin Shahbaz had underlined his status as the world’s best dribbler in 1994 when he led Pakistan to World Cup victory in Sydney and retired soon afterwards. He made a controversial comeback at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but failed to impress much. He had not played top class hockey since 1998 and was the Pakistan coach weeks before the Rotterdam Champions Trophy.

The Pakistan camp in preparation for the World Cup and a six- nation tournament that precedes that is set to start at Lahore from Dec 24.

Khokhar said that in the camp they would especially focus on helping defenders Tariq Imran and Sohail Abbas improve their tackling and clearance. “I personally think that their tackling is not clean which leads to short corners and at times penalty strokes.”

Although Khokhar refrained from making any tall claims for the World Cup being held in February, he did say that they would put in their best. “The level of competition between the top teams these days is such that it is difficult to predict the outcome of a tournament.”

“We have a competition before the World Cup which has six nations and is a Champions Trophy in its own right. So doing well in that competition should put us in the right frame of mind for the tougher task ahead.”

The six-nation event will see besides Pakistan, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, India and hosts Malaysia fight it out for gaining a psychological advantage going into the World Cup.