Pakistan Hockey Team Manager wants young blood through slow transitional process: Hockey Update
Khawaja Muhammad Junaid, the manager of the Pakistan hockey team and former Olympian urged the need of young blood into the national team, but through a slow transitional process. In his views, the fresh blood should be gradually inducted into the squad.
Speaking to the media persons at the National Hockey Stadium Lahore, the team manager was of the opinion that they should have good back-up of players.
It is vital to mention here that former Olympians flayed criticism on the experienced players, who secured the last position in the 2010 FIH World Cup held in New Delhi, India. The former players were of the view that the senior names including Shakeel Abbasi,
Salman Akbar, Waseem Ahmed and world’s highest goal scorer Sohail Abbas should quit the game, as they could not deliver results furthermore.
However, the team comprised of senior players changed the directions of blazing guns by lifting the Asian Games gold medal after twenty years. At last the hard-work of experienced players bore fruit and their performance lashed out the critics, who demanded
replacements of the senior players.
Though, they failed to capture the title of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, but they displayed impressive performance and managed a runner-up position in the seven-nation invitational. They lost the finals against Australia via a golden goal in
the second half of the extra time-period.
In the both above mentioned tournaments, the senior players rendered wonderful performances and put the Green Shirts in the way to revival.
The experienced pros including Sohail Abbas, Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt were among the top players throughout the invitational. Sohail was highest goal-scorer of the event with six goals, while Shakeel Abbasi earned the Best Player of the Tournament award.
In addition, he was the only Pakistani player who succeeded to get a place in the Sultan Azlan Shah XI.
The winning skipper of the Asiad, Zeeshan Ashraf, missed the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in order to give youngsters a chance to experience the international hockey. He was of the view that he would only take part in high-profile tournaments including 2011 Champions
Trophy and the 2012 London Olympics.
The Team Manger further stated that they were required to train the youngsters before relying on them in replacements of the senior players. He said, “But we need to give them ample exposure before relying on them. There’s a bunch of players who are in line
to replace the seniors but you can’t just go and axe them immediately.”
He further expressed that the presence of senior players in the squad is a must for the fresh blood to further hone their skills.
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