Pakistan’s National Hockey Team to miss their captain’s absence in Malaysia – Hockey Update
Zeeshan Ashraf, the Pakistan’s team captain who led the team in winning the 2010 Asian Games title, is expected to be missed by his team members for the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia from May 5-15.
Ashraf had recently announced to remove his name from the Azlan Cup’s selection list in order to allow space for some new faces to debut in the upcoming international event.
The national team’s manager Khawaja Junaid warmly accepted Ashraf’s decision but also marked that his absence will be noticeably felt by the team members.
“It was a commendable step from Ashraf but as far as the team is concerned he’ll definitely be missed. He has experience and was the captain for quite a long time. It won’t be possible to find his immediate replacement.”
On contrary, Junaid also considered his absence as an opportunity to test the potential in the young players. He added that the team’s performance might be affected on introducing some new players. However, the spaces of senior players will be filled up
by some youngsters sooner or later.
In other developments, the preparatory camp being held for the Azlan Cup has concluded on April 9 at the Naseer Bunda Stadium in Islamabad.
The first phase of the camp has been declared as closed, which comprised of improving the player’s stamina and physical fitness.
“It was a productive phase in which players were given training with focus on their fitness. The positive thing was that they didn’t show any signs of rustiness,” commented Junaid.
The second phase of the Azlan Cup training camp will begin from April 19 in which the short-listed team will be announced. This squad will be required to attend the following trials organised by the Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) selection committee.
Before the initiating the second phase, a four-day individual training will be taken by each player at the camp. The manager informed that the camp attendants will regroup for this training on April 15, which will mainly comprise of physical exercises.
After the final trials, the 18-member squad selected will leave for Malaysia on May 1 to compete in the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held among seven of World’s top ranked Men’s hockey teams including the 2010 Asian Games Champion Pakistan,
Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Germany, India and the host team Malaysia in Ipoh Kuala Lumpur.
The last edition of the Azlan Cup was jointly won by South Korea and India due to unexpected rain in the final match. Pakistan will be looking to put in a good performance at the Cup and it will be interesting to see what impact the loss of Ashraf will have
on the team during the exciting tournament.
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