KARACHI, Oct 28: Pakistan hockey coach, Hanif Khan, said Sunday he has no fear of being sacked if the team fails to deliver in next month’s Champions Trophy since he has not received an ultimatum from the game’s administrators.

“I am the national coach. I suppose I will continue to train the boys even if the team does not fare well in the Champions Trophy. I have no plans to step down even after team’s defeat.

“Nobody from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) ever talked to me and never said I will be replaced or removed if the team faltered,” Hanif disclosed from Lahore before leaving for Rotterdam with the national squad.

Hanif’s statement was a startling disclosure given the fact president of the PHF, Gen Aziz Khan, on Sept 22, gave the team management last opportunity to produce results or be ready to face the music.

The PHF president had said team officials would be sacked and replaced by another set of management to raise a formidable outfit for next February’s World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

The team officials are under fire since Pakistan’s dismal performance at the Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur last August where the team secured fourth position. The showing at the Cup was the worst ever in the history of the tournament.

Earlier in March, Pakistan also lost to India on penalty shootout in the Prime Minister’s Gold Cup final in Dhaka.

The debacle in the Malaysian capital had forced the game’s pundits to anticipate coaches, Hanif Khan, Shahbaz Ahmad, Khwaja Junaid, and manager Brig Khalid Khokhar, might be shown the door.

But the PHF gave a chance to improve, saying the Champions Trophy would be the last opportunity or the team officials would be replaced.

“Had there been plans to remove me, the PHF could have done it a long time ago. I will be carrying no burden or apprehension during the Trophy. I have always served my country as player and a coach, not for anybody else,” Hanif, an outspoken former Pakistan skipper, said.

The former left-inner said he would like to carry on at least till the World Cup next year like the way the PHF had planned earlier. The PHF, appointing the team officials early this year had categorically said the officials would be at the helm at least until the World Cup.

The present scenario suggests there is a lack of communication between the PHF secretariat and the coach. Gen Aziz’s Sept 22 press briefing was carried by all the national newspapers but it was most surprising that Hanif was not intimated officially by the PHF about the decision.

Hanif admitted that barring the unimpressive show at Azlan Shah Cup, Ahmad Alam was a world class goalkeeper and his successor Mohammad Qasim could not be compared with the retired captain.

“Apart from his performance in Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad no doubt was an excellent ‘keeper. But Qasim also has international exposure and will improve more before the World Cup.

“We should not expect wonders from Salman (Akbar). He is a new kid on the block,” he opined.

The coach termed the present outfit as the best trained and felt no need of further experimentation with the composition but warned there might be changes for the World Cup.

“At the moment, I don’t think that there should be changes in the team. We have already tried different boys, and the present clutch of players is the best.

“I am expecting a lot from Shahbaz (Ahmad) who is now 70 percent fit and will play a schemer’s role,” he added.

He, however, didn’t rule out the possibility of changes in the team saying those who fell by the wayside, including recalled aging striker Shahbaz Ahmad, might be changed.