LAHORE, Feb 28: Former Pakistan hockey captain Mohammad Sarwar on Friday contradicted chief selector Akhtar Rasool’s statement about his ouster from the team, saying he had already intimated the officials about his non-availability for the trials due to personal reasons.

The striker expressed surprise over the reason given by Akhtar for his exclusion, saying he had not been axed from the team due his poor performance at 50th national championship as the chief selector had said.

He said the fact was he had not been considered for selection as he had already intimated the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Feb 8 about his non-availability for trials and Azlan Shah Cup because of personal reasons.

According to Akhtar, Sarwar was not included in the list of 37 probables announced for the March 22 to 31 six-nation event in Ipoh, Malaysia, because of his poor performance.

“The chief selector was perhaps unaware about my conversation with the PHF secretary on this issue,” Sarwar said from Renala Khurd.

The PHF secretary Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan confirmed Sarwar had informed him about his non-availability for the trials and the Azlan Shah Cup, citing domestic problems as the reason.  

Surprisingly, the secretary, at the same time, also repeated the point of view of the selection committee chairman.

“The selection committee also discussed the performance of Sarwar at the national championship and told that Sarwar was not impressive and he could not be considered for the tournament,” he added.

The secretary, however, said the president PHF was assured by the selection committee that Sarwar would be given a chance to prove his worth after the Azlan Shah Cup.

However, it is amazing if Sarwar had already informed the PHF he would unavailable for the trials and the tournament, why the selection committee cited his unimpressive performance as the reason for his ouster.

It seems Sarwar knew he would not be able to make room in the squad, therefore, he opted to stay away from the trials. Sarwar, however, denied by saying “it was because of my family problem I was not available.”

Sarwar, whose performance is below average since long and had a dismal last season as the captain with back-to-back defeats at the major events like Commonwealth Games, Champions Trophy and Asian Games, said he would stage a comeback after the Azlan Shah Cup.

“I will be back in the team on merit after dealing with my domestic issues,” he pledged.