Muhammad Imran likely to lead Greenshirts in Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is likely to appoint Muhammad Imran as skipper of the national hockey team which is going to contest the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup scheduled to be held from May 5-15 in Malaysia. According to the media reports, the
federation is going to select the seasoned fighter as captain of the Pakistan's team.
The federation is pondering over its decision to finalise the new name for this posts, after Zeeshan Ashraf excused himself to partake from the tournament to give the new talent a chance in the national team. He announced that he would skip the tournament
to leave positions for the rising talent.
Imran was part of the squad as a vice-captain, which clinched a gold medal in the 16th Asian Games after two decades held in China in last year. According to a PHF official, the selection committee unanimously approved the name of the youngster
to lead the team in the mega event. The federation according to its rules appoints the most experienced player for the post of skipper. Thus all the stakeholders, which includes the team management, selection committee and the PHF reached the consensus in
this regard.
Imran made his debut back in 2004 and served the junior squad as a captain. The full-back player contested all the major tournaments, including the World Cup, Olympics, Asian Games, Azlan Shah Hockey Cup and the Champions Trophy.
The official of the federation stated, “So far there has been some sort of consensus among the PHF officials, selection committee and team management on Imran. He has vast experience and is one of the fittest among the seniors players, which makes him a
top contender for captaincy.”
He maintained that the names of other fabled hockey players, including Sohail Abbas, Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt were also under thought. However, the final decision would be taken within couple of weeks, he added.
Meanwhile, the selection committee with its Chief, Hanif Khan, has reviewed the players’ performance in the ongoing training camp at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium in Islamabad. Hanif Khan was of the opinion that they would observe the players till the
completion of the training camp in order to choose best fifteen names for the upcoming tournament.
Commenting about the future captain, he stated that whose performance will be in ideal shape will be selected for this responsibility, regardless of his experience. He further stated that the names of the final squad would be made public after the second
phase of the training camp that scheduled to be commenced from April 20. However, he declined to name the expected players for captaincy.
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