PICTURE: Akhtar Ali (left)By Shazad Ali
KARACHI: Pakistan hockey sank further into a deep morass on Thursday when it was revealed that three senior players have been asked by national hockey federation secretary Asif Bajwa to request for “rest” before Azlan Shah Cup.
According to Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif, Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf, Waseem Ahmad and Akhtar Ali have requested him that they want to skip the forthcoming event.
Sources, however, told Dawn.com that the three players along with Rehan Butt and Sohail Abbas were asked by Asif to take rest, suggesting they should make a request to the PHF that they were interested in playing only at major events.
While Waseem, Zeeshan and Akhtar, agreed, Sohail and Rehan have opted to join the Azlan Shah Cup training camp. Initially, even Rehan was reluctant to join the camp on the instructions of Asif, but later changed his mind when Sohail took a firm decision to report for training against the wishes of the PHF secretary.
In the present Pakistan hockey scenario, the claims by the PHF that players have requested for rest are obviously illogical since all the players including the seniors are willing to prove their mettle to be included in important assignments – Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year.
Sources say as PHF had apprehensions that some senior players including Waseem, Zeeshan and Akhtar might be dropped when the selection committee announces the squad for Azlan Shah Cup, it decided to ask the seniors to request for “rest.”
The Azlan Shah Cup training camp starts from Friday at Hockey Club of Pakistan, while the selection committee is likely to announce the squad on April 28.
Dawn
