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KARACHI: Dispelling the impression that he along with the other senior hockey players are being eased out of the Pakistan hockey team, veteran forward Rehan Butt said that they were only being rested and nothing more.
Following Olympian Hanif Khan’s recent statement where the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) chief selector had said that they were looking for replacements for Rehan Butt, Sohail Abbas and goalkeeper Salman Akbar, Rehan said that they were only being rested to avoid getting burned out before the 2012 Olympics.
“Well, it is not up to us when the selectors decide to give us rest but it has been explained to me by the federation itself that they want to keep the seniors from playing back-to-back tournaments.
“We have been reassured that we will be called for the event following the Asian Champions Trophy,” said the Olympian while speaking to Dawn on Monday.
“You may say that it is PHF’s way of making roll on/off substitutions or rotating tires to keep all of us fresh and raring to go. The Asian Champions Trophy will be followed by the three-nation event in Australia featuring Pakistan, India and the hosts and there is only a five to six-day gap between the two tourneys,” he added.
When reminded of what happened to his former, Asian Games-winning captain Zeeshan Ashraf, who still hopes to play in next year’s Olympics, but has been as good as written off by the federation and its selectors, Rehan said that their case was different.
“You can’t compare us to Zeeshan Ashraf. He had been called to camp and he refused to show up saying that he wanted to concentrate on playing in big events only. I have never refused to show up when called for national duty,” he pointed out.
“The PHF is a government institution after all and I have always felt honoured and proud to be called to serve my country,” he said.
“Besides, I was also awarded the PHF central contract as my colleagues. Zeeshan Ashraf is no longer under contract with the federation,” he added.
Asked if the rumours about him along with goalkeeper Salman Akbar not being called to camp due to disciplinary problems carried any weight, he exclaimed: “They’re absolute rubbish. Please don’t believe everything you hear.”
Camp in preparation for the Asian Champions Trophy to be held in China from Sept 3 to 11 will commence from Wednesday (Aug 10) at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium in Islamabad. Rehan, Sohail Abbas and Salman Akbar are not included in the 26 probables called for training.
