LAHORE: Former Pakistan hockey captain Islahuddin Siddiqi has criticised the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for axing three senior players, namely Waseem Ahmed, Salman Akbar and Mohammad Imran.

Talking to Dawn here on Saturday, Islah said: “It is the first time in the history of Pakistan hockey that any senior player who has been the part of the national team in any world-class event was not selected even for a training camp and sent home in such a disgraceful manner.”

As per norms, 16 or 18 players, who represent Pakistan in any tournament, are selected for the next training camp, but that principle has not been followed, he maintained, adding that all the three players were part of the Champions Trophy and thus should have been tested properly in the training camp by the national selection committee before dropping them.

Islah said former captain Zeeshan Ashraf had also previously been ignored which is not a good tradition.

Islah expressed surprise at the planning of the PHF and questioned the selection of Rehan Butt, saying that he was not part of the Champions Trophy.

It is pertinent to mention that all the three axed players featured in the Champions Trophy but now they haven’t called to the camp.

Answering a question, he also slammed chief selector Hanif Khan, who had said that Pakistan coach Michel van den Heuvel had suggested to him to drop all the three players.

“If chief selector has to follow instructions of the coach, then it is better he quits the job and gives full responsibility of the selection to the coach,” he said.

“Chief selector has witnessed matches of the recently-concluded national championship in Karachi and was in a better position to assess the performance of the players, but he followed what exactly the Dutch coach recommended,” Islah added.

The former captain said that the PHF is short of time to raise a new team since the London Olympics are just five months away, adding: “The best times for the PHF to prepare a new team was soon after Pakistan finished at the bottom in the World Cup 2010 and then when Pakistan won the Asian Games title.”

Islah alleged that all the decisions regarding the senior players were being taken by the PHF on personal likings.