Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Brig (retd) Muhammad Khalid Sajjad Khokhar on Thursday announced the appointment of a new national selection committee and management for the senior hockey team "with immediate effect".

According to a statement issued by the federation, Hassan Sardar has been appointed the chairman of the national selection committee, while Ayaz Mahmood and Syed Musaddiq Hussain have been appointed as members of the committee.

Farhat Hassan Khan has been appointed as head coach, while Malik Mohammad Shafqat and Mohammad Sarwar have been appointed coaches till December 2018, the statement added.

Newly appointed head coach Farhat Khan was optimistic that the national team's performance could be improved through introducing positive and aggressive mindset among players.

"In past, Pakistan was the power house of Hockey and I still do believe that we can achieve the best results," he said while talking to DawnNews.

Farhat, a member of the now dissolved selection committee, was also a critic of his predecessor Khawaja Junaid's policies. Farhat said he did not believe in setting long term goals, instead, his focus would be to start winning from the beginning or the first match.

"I don't like defeat, we had a glorious past in Hockey and I witnessed a great era, I do believe in winning every match and I am hopeful that by adopting a policy of aggressive game, we can produce good results," he added.

He showed full confidence in the new selection committee and said, "Hasan Sardar and Mussadiq Hussain were better hockey players than me and I keep a firm belief that whatever team they select, it will be in the interest of Pakistan hockey."

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