Pakistan’s 1994 World Cup hero Shahbaz Ahmed on Thursday took a giant step towards regaining a place in the national hockey team when he was selected in a list of 30 probables for this November’s Champion’s Trophy.
Just months after being appointed as a national coach, Shahbaz managed to convince Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials and its selection committee that he was still good enough to be in the national team as one of its playing members with a convincing show in an ongoing tournament in Lahore. Shahbaz - who played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s historic triumph in the ‘94 World Cup in Sydney - was the only one of the senior lot of players under scrutiny in the Governor’s Gold Cup in Lahore to get the selectors’ nod for a training camp starting from October 3.
“Among a number of former players who were considered for selection, Shahbaz was the only one who could be selected for the camp on current performance,” said PHF secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan while talking to ‘The News’ from Lahore.
Apart from Shahbaz several other key players including former Pakistan skipper and Shahbaz’s one time team-mate Tahir Zaman, Naveed Alam and goalkeeper Qadeer Bashir were also in the running for a place in the side. However, the mercurial Shahbaz who is at the helm of national champions PIA in the Gold Cup, was the only veteran who defied age and a long hiatus from international hockey to earn a recall in a surprisingly short list of 30 for the forthcoming Champion’s Trophy camp.
Though the PHF officials had earlier hinted at selecting around 40 to 45 players for the camp, they finally decided to even curtail the strength of the previous camp in which 34 players took part. “We have decided against selecting too many players because we don’t have enough time and then only those have been picked who performed well in the Gold Cup,” said Musarrat who is also a member of the national selection committee.
The only player missing from the 18-member team that took part in the sultan Azlan Shah cup in August - Pakistan’s last international appearance - is former skipper Ahmed Alam. The goalie gave an impressive show while playing for PIA in the Gold Cup but was overlooked by the PHF because of his decision to retire from international hockey last month.
Rookie goal-keeper Salman Akber - a member of the national junior team - has been asked to join the camp along with veteran Mohammad Qasim. Fullback Ali Raza earns a recall while the half-line also sees several changes with brothers Irfan and Imran Yousuf coming back along with Imran Rasool.
Justice was finally delivered to right winger Sameer Hussain - a gifted youngster who was kept out of the team for unknown reasons after last year’s Olympic Games. Two young turks from Wapda - Rehan Butt and Mudassar - have also been included in the list of forwards which also sees experienced international Aleem Raza and Naveed Iqbal making a return.
The selected players will assemble at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore on October 3 and after a few days of training sessions will appear in trials on October 10 and 11. An 18- member team that will be finalised after the trials will immediately go back to work from October 12 in the final leg of preparations for the Champion’s Trophy.
The six-nation tournament that also features world and Olympic champions Holland, Korea, Australia, Germany and England was supposed to be held in Lahore but has been taken out of there because of security considerations. The tournament is now likely to be held either in Holland or Australia.