Oltmans’ service to Pakistan Hockey have began to show its color. Good to have old warrior Sarwar back on the scene. Pakistan needs experience players on the front court.
Spain declined not to play Test series with Pakistan, according to the coach. Pakistan will play Two Test Series, each against Great Britain and The Netherlands
Coach Oltmans recalls Sarwar
LAHORE, Feb 4: Discarded forward Mohammad Sarwar, who was forced to quit by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), returned to national hockey when he reported for training camp on coach’s invitation.
**“I am satisfied with Sarwar’s level of physical fitness and I will watch him for couple of days before deciding whether he should be in the camp,” ** coach Roelant Oltmans told reporters after supervising training camp which started on Wednesday.
Sarwar had skipped national trials for the Azlan Shah last year citing domestic problems as the reason after being criticized by the national selectors for decline in his form.
Chief selector Akhtar Rasool had stated Sarwar had not been invited for the Azlan Shah Cup, while the right-in contradicted him, claiming he had chosen to stay away from the camp because of some domestic problems.
Sarwar was finally shown the door by the national selectors soon after the trials for last year’s Amstelveen Champions Trophy, forcing him to call it a day.
The former captain had severly criticized PHF for giving him harsh treatment and alleged that Akhtar and selector Hassan Sardar were behind his humiliating ouster. The selectors had contended Sarwar should quit because he had gone down the hill but surprisingly opted to have ageing goalkeeper Ahmad Alam in the squad.
**Oltmans said Sarwar was a skilful player and looked fit as compared to other players which prompted him to invite him for the the camp overruling selection committee’s decision. However, he added, Sarwar was not a part of the camp and he had been called up to check his fitness and worth for the camp set up here for Olympic qualifying round in Madrid, Spain, from March 2 to 13.
Sarwar said after being officially asked by Oltmans to join the camp, he had decided to come out of retirement which was forced upon him by the PHF. **
Oltmans defended his decision of giving a chance to upcoming goalkeeper Salman Akbar in the final against Australia in the Azlan Shah Cup which Pakistan lost 4-3.
“If Salman conceded four goals in the final, he also saved three goals despite playing in a pressure situation,” the Dutchman said.
He admitted the team should not rely on penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas since it was important to score through field efforts. But he added Sohail’s was a gift to Pakistan. Many teams like the Netherlands and Germany had been winning due to penalty corner specialists, he said.
The coach said he would like to improve the attack of his side. “The guys also lacked possession. If Pakistan remove these flaws, no one can defeat them.”
He was satisfied on the improvement in defence during the Azlan Shah Cup which, he said, was also pointed out by few other experts in Malaysia.
Oltmans said Mohammad Saqlain and Rehan Butt had remarkably improved, while 21 probables attending the camp were also fit.
“They showed 25 per cent improvement in their fitness level and I believe they followed the fitness chart which I gave them after the Azlan Shah Cup,” he said.
He considered Australia and South Korea as the super fit sides of the Azlan Shah Cup.
Pakistan would play a Test each against the Great Britain and the Netherlands in Spain before participating in the qualifying round, while Spain had refused to play a Test, he said. Meanwhile, all 21 probables reported to the camp on the first day against the past practice of coming couple of days late.
PTCL:** Salman Akbar, Ghazanfar Ali, Saleem Khalid, Shakeel Abbasi.
PIA: Ahmad Alam, Ali Raza.
NBP: Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Nadeem, Adnan Maqsood, Abdul Asim Khan.
Wapda: Mohammad Qasim, Rehan Butt, Mudassir Ali Khan, Shabbir Hussain, Waseem Ahmad, Sohail Abbas.
HBL: Kashif Jawwad, Sameer Hussain.
ABL: Mohammad Saqlain.
Army: Dilawar Hussain.
Sindh: Nasir Ahmad.
