KARACHI, July 19: Full-back Sohail Abbas and left-half Waseem Ahmad, despite facing possible disciplinary action, will appear in the two-day hockey trials which begins on Sunday.
The fate of the two players still hangs in the balance, although they have been asked by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to join the camp for the Champions Trophy which starts from Aug 16.
The duo went to Germany to play in league despite being refused permission by the PHF. Both came back few days ago after a break in league.
Their presence in the camp has, however, created confusion as the PHF is yet to take a final decision, while the inquiry committee has already recommended one-year ban for both the players.
The two players missed the two three-nation tournaments in Down Under featuring Australia, India and ‘A’ string of the hosts, preferring the league in Germany.
Pakistan now face a daunting task ahead in Amstelveen where they meet world champions Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, India and Argentina.
PHF, it has been learnt, has decided to compromise by ignoring the inquiry committee’s recommendations by including the two players into the squad after mild penalties, probably in the shape of fines.
While the team may lose its nip if PHF imposes one-year ban on the two players, it would set a bad precedent for coming youngsters if PHF decides to compromise on indiscipline.
The job has become lot more challenging for Pakistan team as it has recently got a new manager in Abdul Rashid Jr, while their coach Tahir Zaman has joined the camp only a couple of days ago following a medical check-up for suspected cardiac problem.
Rashid, who will be part of the selection committee, seemed puzzled when asked about the potential of the present lot of players.
The former Olympian, who has remained tight-lipped, still refrained from commenting on the players’ abilities even though he said he had watched them in the two games against the visiting Chinese side recently.
“I did see the players against China, but it is still hard to say anything about their talent. I have yet to decide whether to stick to experienced players or rely on youngsters,” Rashid, who has staged a comeback as manager after eight years, said.
The manager said since Tahir had arrived, he would be having discussions about the selection with the coach and his assistant Shahid Ali Khan.
Meanwhile, the selection committee did not deem it necessary to see the probables who assembled at Steel Mills ground for training on July 11.
Neither chief selector Akhtar Rasool, selectors Saleem Nazim and Saeed Khan nor the secretary PHF Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan, the cop-opted member, bothered to come to watch the trainees during the camp.
Only Karachi-based Hassan Sardar visited the camp, and that was not on daily basis. However, the team would be finalized by the selection committee after observing the trials.
Ironically, Akhtar had time to go to Kuala Lumpur along with the squad where they figured in Azlan Shah Cup, and Hassan is also scheduled to accompany the junior squad to Spain.