KARACHI: After setting their mark in the Pakis­tan Super League, Lahore Qalandars have come forward to steer the national game to its lost glories.

The proposed plan will commence by launching a Karachi-Lahore hockey series aimed at scouting budding players and grooming them at the High Performance Centre for future. The selected players will also be sent abroad for training.

This was stated by Lahore Qalandars CEO Atif Rana who was addressing a press conference here at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.

He was flanked by Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Syed Haider Hussain, Lahore Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, former Test cricketer Aqib Javed, Special Assistant to Sindh Chief Minister for Sports Arbab Lutfullah and former Olympians among others.

The PHF and provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab are the other stakeholders in the venture.

The plan, Atif added, will kick off by staging open trials at the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) Sports Complex on Friday. This will be followed by open trials in Lahore.

Atif further said that Lahore Qalandars had nominated their skipper to serve as brand ambassador for the national game.

On the occasion, Lutfullah disclosed that a letter had been written to the provincial finance department for the release of Rs400 million for the first phase of revamping of the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2023