Team strength more important than beating India in Asian Champions Trophy, says Mohammad Imran
Pakistan’s national hockey team’s skipper, Mohammad Imran, stated that it is more important to build a strong fighting and well balanced side before the prestigious event of sports, the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England than beating their rivals, the
Indians.
During an interview the national skipper told that the Indian team has an advantage over the Greenshirts due to the fact that their team comprised of a number of senior and seasoned players. While the Greenshirts have some young and fresh blood in the team
especially the national team will not have the penalty corner specialist, Sohail Abbas while Indians include the drag flicker, Sandeep Singh who always performed well against Pakistan.
The skipper, Mohammad Imran also viewed that their upcoming assignment at the Asian Champions Trophy will provide them the stage to analyse their reserve strength, in the absence of senior and experienced players like Rehan Butt, Salman Akbar and the penalty
corner specialist Sohail Abbas. Team development is more important prior to some of the bigger tournaments like FIH Champions Trophy to be held in India in December and next year’s London Olympics in England.
“We want to broaden the pool before the London Olympics. This is the best chance to judge our bench strength against some quality teams. Top six Asian teams are taking part in the tournament and it will be a good exposure for our young side,” the skipper
stated about their test in the Asian Champions Trophy in China.
The skipper, Mohammad Imran looked quite hopeful for a better performance against the arch-rivals, India, to whom the Greenshirts had defeated in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament after four successive defeats in recent times.
“I am also confident of breaking the jinx of defeats in India. We will play differently in the upcoming Champions Trophy and in four-nation tournament,” he further stated about their recent performance against their arch-rival neighbours, India.
It will be interesting to see how the young players perform for Pakistan in the exciting tournament. Only time will tell if leaving out the senior players will benefit the team.
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