LONDON: Hockey selector Chaudhry Arshad has suggested to the senior players in the Pakistan team to hang up their boots to help the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) raise a new-look team for the 2014 World Cup.

Talking to Dawn, Arshad a former Olympian said: “I believe the seniors have played their innings and now the next big event is World Cup 2014, so we have time to raise a formidable side for the event.

“All the seniors should follow their colleague Waseem Ahmed who called it a day soon after the South Korea game,” he said.

Arshad further said that hockey has become a power game and only young legs could perform better in the game, therefore the seniors do not have much scope in future.

While Waseem has retired from international hockey, a similar decision is expected from captain Sohail Abbas once he reaches home.

Other senior players who are now in the twilight of their careers are Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi and they may soon take a decision on their future in international hockey.

To a question, Arshad admitted that head coach Akhtar Rasool should have more powers as it was the practice the world over.

“In modern hockey, coaches are being given more powers and same equation should be adopted in Pakistan,” he said.

He said the PHF would have to take some bold decisions to put the game back on the track and improvement in world ranking should be considered as a ray of hope for the future.

“Though we could not reach the podium in London, we performed satisfactorily and improved the ranking from eighth to seventh by winning three matches, losing two and drawing one,” he observed.