Hockey: ‘Rehan Butt not wanted by team management’

Chief selector gives reasons for former captain’s omission following debacle.

LAHORE:

Under-fire after the forwards’ inability to convert chances into goals, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Chief Selector Hanif Khan has defended his selections, including the omission of experienced forward Rehan Butt from the Champions Trophy squad.

Calls for Butt’s return gained momentum after Pakistan lost all three group matches in New Zealand and failed to vie for a last-four spot. However, Khan said Butt did not deserve all the hype that surrounded him in the wake of the team’s exit.

“Butt’s inclusion doesn’t guarantee us a win,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “The hype has been created but the fact is that the team management did not want him. If and when it does, we’ll consider him but until then we won’t.”

The PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa echoed Khan’s views, terming it the team management’s decision to omit the former captain from the squad.

Butt fully fit

Meanwhile, the forward himself ruled out any plans of retiring from the game and confirmed that he was completely fit to play hockey at the international level.

The 31-year-old was dropped from the team after the European tour on disciplinary grounds and was overlooked for the Champions Trophy on fitness issues. However, Butt said that fitness was not
an issue and remained hopeful of a comeback in the national squad.

“My options for the World Hockey Series are open but my priority is to play for the team first,” Butt told reporters at the National Hockey Stadium. “I’m practising regularly, am fully fit and eager to make a comeback into Pakistan’s squad.”

Butt also criticised Pakistan’s game plan in the match against Australia – which the Greenshirts lost 6-1 – and said the Asian Games winners adopted a defensive and negative approach.

“I couldn’t understand why Pakistan played so defensively. I can’t say, sitting here, that I would have done it differently but I would have definitely asked my defence line to play with an attacking mindset.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2011.