KARACHI, June 2: Pakistan hockey selectors on Friday included injured Mohammad Saqlain and Ghazanfar Ali in the 20-member Azlan Shah Cup provisional squad but axed Zeeshan Ashraf and Adnan Zakir.
Saqlain’s and Ghazanfar’s fate would be decided by Monday or Tuesday and they would be included in the final 18 only if they got thumbs up from the doctor, chief selector Khalid Mahmood told a press conference after the trials.
“They (Saqlain and Ghazanfar) will be in the team only if they are given a green signal by the doctor. We expect a final word on Saqlain by Monday, while a report about Ghazanfar’s fitness will also be received shortly,” he said.
Saqlain is suffering from an eye infection and hardly trained for two days out of five-day training, while Ghazanfar is nursing a fracture in hand.
At the moment, Saqlain can’t open his right eye because of swelling, while Ghazanfar says that he has recovered from the injury and it will take at least a week for rehabilitation.
Saqlain will be replaced by Mohammad Jawaid and Imran Khan fills Ghazanfar’s place in case they fail to get a green light from the doctor. Mudassir Ali Khan will captain the team and next senior player will be his deputy if Saqlain fails fitness test.
Although Khalid agreed it would have been wise had unfit players were rested for invitational tournament Azlan Shah Cup to save their energies for July 22 to 30 elite Champions Trophy in Terrassa, Spain, he said the pair could not be left behind being key players.
“Saqlain and Ghazanfar will be part of the squad if they play at least four or five games during training. Then two Karachi-based selectors will take the decision,” he said.
While a doctor was consulted in Saqlain’s and Ghazanfar’s cases, full-back Zeeshan and forward Adnan were dropped on the recommendation of team physiotherapist.
“Zeeshan and Adnan are nursing hamstring injuries. We dropped them on the report of physiotherapist. Adnan played in the trials but team physio told us he was constantly complaining about hamstring,” said chief selector.
While selectors decided to consider half-fit Saqlain and Ghazanfar, they sidelined Yasir Islam who was named the promising player of an Under-19 tournament in Kuala Lumpur few years ago. Asim Khan, another young and talented midfielder who was called up in 2004 by Roelant Oltmans, was overlooked.
Khalid believed that present lot of players was capable to continue even after September’s World Cup in Germany.
However, on Saqlain’s disciplinary record, Khalid warned that if the temperamental centre-half did not control his temper, PHF would also quit defending him.
“Such incidents do happen sometimes. But there is a limit. I feel if Saqlain will not stop involving in violation of code of conduct, then one day PHF might not defend him.”
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmad.
Full-backs: Mohammad Imran, Imran Warsi, Ehsanullah Khan.
Half-backs: Adnan Maqsood, Ghazanfar Ali (Imran Khan), Mohammad Saqlain (Mohammad Jawaid), Dilawar Hussain, Sajjad Anwar.
Forwards: Rehan Butt, Muddasir Khan, Shakeel Abbasi, Saleem Khalid, Mohammad Shabbir, Akhtar Ali, Waqas Akbar, Waqas Sharif.
Standbyes: Zubair, Mustansar Sheikh, Naeem Akbar, Yasir Islam and Shabbir Jr.