KARACHI, Aug 3: Several former Olympians have criticized the axing of striker Kashif Jawwad from the national hockey team and have claimed that the Pakistani squad needs experienced players like the sacked centre-forward.

Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui said on Wednesday that the decision to drop Kashif from the Europe-bound national team was wrong and would affect the performance of greenshirts in the international tournaments.

Islah who managed the national squad in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney where Kashif was a part of the team, said that the Karachi-based striker was still good enough to spearhead the national team.

The former Pakistan skipper felt that one of the reasons why Pakistan manage third position in the Azlan Shah Cup was that they had no experienced striker like Kashif.

He pointed out that Pakistan cannot just rely on one tried and tested striker Shakeel Abbasi. He led the Pakistan under-21 team in the Junior World Cup in the Dutch city of Rotterdam to a poor seventh position.

Another former Olympian Samiullah Khan also agreed with Islah saying that Kashif should have been included in the 19-member squad.

Sami, who resigned as manager of the Pakistan team earlier this summer, said that at this juncture when Pakistan were preparing for the 2006 World Cup in Germany they needed the services of experienced players.—PPI