KARACHI: Rizwan Sr, who was retained captain of the Pakistan hockey team for the Commonwealth Games in absentia, said he will return to Pakistan on March 26 to join the team ahead of its departure to Australian city of Gold Coast.

“All the hockey playing nations be it minnows like Oman and Japan, have shown a lot of improvement and we look forward to making an impact in the upcoming event,” he said in an interview from Holland.

Rizwan, who was elevated as captain in the three-nation international event held at Muscat last month, said he and the team management were eyeing gold in the Asian Games, slated at Jakarta later this year.

“The team is eager to beat India to repair the damage that was caused following five successive defeats at their hands,” he added.

He was confident that the greenshirts will perform well under Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans. “While Oltmans will improve players’ techniques, Hasan Sardar has the ability to better the skills,” he remarked.

He said selection of the team was the task of the selection committee and he fully endorsed it.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2018