Veteran Pakistani hockey player Rehan Butt optimistic to make comeback into national line-up
Rehan Butt, the seasoned Pakistani hockey player is quite optimistic to make a comeback into the national line-up ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
The senior player along with Sohail Abbas and Salman Akbar were dropped from the list of probable players selected for the Champions Trophy and the first ever Asian Championship. However, Rehan Butt is telling another part of the story saying that he was
on rest and will rejoin the national team prior to the London Games.
The statement of the veteran striker came to the surface after Chief Selector Hanif Khan proclaimed that three players including Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt and Salman Akbar likely to be replaced with fresh players. Rehan Butt rejected the impression saying
that he was on rest in order to avoid fitness issues prior to the London gala.
Speaking to the media – the seasoned attacker stated, “Well, it is not up to us when the selectors decide to give us rest but it has been explained to me by the federation itself that they want to keep the seniors from playing back-to-back tournaments.”
He further said that they have been informed that they would be called back ahead of the Olympic Games. In his view, it was a way to keep all the players including youngsters and experienced fresh and energetic.
It is worth mentioning here that a three-nation tournament featured with Pakistan, India and Australia is scheduled to be held soon after the Asian Championship. The legendary striker has hoped to make a comeback into the squad for the three-nation event.
Commenting on the case of Zeeshan Ashraf – the former skipper who was dropped from the team in the name of rest and has not been included by the PHF, he stated that his case was different. Zeeshan refused to join the camp explaining that he only wants to
partake in the major assignments, he added saying that they did not refuse to play for the country.
He further said, “The PHF is a government institution after all and I have always felt honoured and proud to be called to serve my country. Besides, I was also awarded the PHF central contract as my colleagues.”
Replying to a query regarding rumours about omission of their names from the probable list was done due to disciplinary issues he completely rejected the reports saying they were rubbish.
The training camp for the first edition of the Asian Champions Trophy will start working from August 10 at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium. The tournament is scheduled to commence from September 3 to 11 in China.
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