THE dismal show put up by our hockey team at the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia has exposed the appalling state of the game in Pakistan. Thanks to haphazard planning and poor selection, the national outfit, with its listless performance in matches against all teams, including lowly-ranked Malaysia, has failed to live up to even the lesser expectations of fans and critics at home. More alarmingly, the manner of defeat in Ipoh clearly signals the ill-preparedness of the team for their upcoming, hugely challenging assignment — the Olympic Games in London.

For keen followers of the game, however, the debacle was always on the cards. To begin with, the Pakistan Hockey Federation has been lax about taking the game to improved levels. Its office-bearers are either too engrossed in saving their jobs, most of which are political appointments, or fighting needless ego battles with some former Olympians in and out of court. To make matters worse, the abrupt departure of the national team’s Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel on the eve of the Azlan Shah Cup has hurt the team’s morale. Much was also being said about the twin induction of the seasoned Sohail Abbas as captain and ex-stalwart Akhtar Rasool as coach. Sadly, the moves have backfired and have failed to stem the rot that characterises Pakistan hockey today. The present scene is such a comedown from the glorious days of the 1970s and 1980s when Islahuddin, Samiullah and others propelled Pakistan to the top of world hockey by winning all the leading titles including the World Cup, the Olympics and the Champions Trophy. Realistically speaking, Pakistan needs a break from international hockey to reorganise itself at the grass-roots level, hire thorough professionals to train its players and play extensively in the European circuit to acquire top standards once again.