KARACHI: Pakistan’s junior hockey team manager and head coach Rana Mujahid said that his young side can beat the senior Egyptian side when the two sides meet in a five-match Test series in Cairo next month.
Pakistan is scheduled to play a five-match series from 6th to 12th August against Egypt.
“I am confident that our team can win the five-match Test series. Our junior players have been training well and they will prove their worth in Cairo,” the former Olympian told PPI.
Rana said that Pakistan has brilliant players in its junior line-up, who are eager to display their worth in the foreign tour.
“The boys are training well and they have been making efforts to improve their form in order to impress the selectors so that they may be considered when the selectors select the national senior team in future.
“They (junior players) know that it is the beginning of their potential wholesome career, if they keep their form and work hard,” Rana said.
To a query, Rana replied that international exposure is very important for young players and there is a great difference between playing at home and playing at the opponents’ home-ground.
“Even though the Egyptian team does not have a good international ranking, but for our players, it will be a great experience, when they play against Egypt’s senior side at their home ground,” he said.
He added that playing during a foreign tour is very much different as players are under immense pressure to perform.
“So we give this tour importance as this will help our players learn how to handle pressure,” he said.
However, former great Shenaz Sheikh had other thoughts and he thinks that tours like these are only organized to artificially elevate the federations image nation-wide.
“After the failure of the senior team in the Europe tour and the junior hockey team’s below-par performance in the Junior Asia Cup, the federation is trying to show the country that they are going in the right direction.
“To do so, they have organized the Egyptian Tour against a below par Egyptian side and later they will tell the media that their team defeated Egypt, which is a great achievement.
“However, winning against teams like Egypt is not a big achievement even for the junior side,” Shenaz said.