‘Removing seniors would only dismantle the team’

Shakeel Abbasi reacts to Hanif Khan's comments that senior players will be sacked after the Asian Games,

KARACHI: Reacting strongly to comments made by chief selector Hanif Khan confirming that the senior players will be sacked after the Asian Games, experienced striker Shakeel Abbasi has warned that such a move will badly affect the team’s preparations for the London Olympics.

The chief selector earlier announced that all senior players including captain Zeeshan Ashran and former captains Salman Akbar, Waseem Ahmed, Rehan Butt and Abbasi, besides drag-flick specialist Sohail Abbas, will be expelled after the Asian Games regardless of their performance in the continental event.

While the chief selector remained unavailable to comment, Olympian Abbasi reminded everyone that senior players remained the most important part of  the team.

“It will be impossible to prepare youngsters in the space of a few months and takes years to mature them,” Abbasi told The Express Tribune. “We have less than two years to the Olympics, removing seniors would only dismantle the team and hamper its preparation for the mega event.

“We can still perform for some more years and just because we’re over 30, it doesn’t mean we should be discarded. It’s a culture in Pakistan only as the rest of the world takes experienced players as a very important part of the team,” said Abbasi before adding that the chief selector should have refrained from such comments before such an important assignment.

“The Asian Games are very important because our Olympics qualification depends on them. They [officials] should think twice before making such comments because they can affect the team’s performance.”

Abbas unimpressive in camp

Meanwhile, world-record holder Sohail Abbas, recalled for the team’s training camp, failed to impress with his fitness, according to a team official.

“There are signs of rustiness,” said the official. “He’ll need to prove his fitness in order to find a place in the squad.”

The team’s assistant coach Ahmed Alam, however, said the penalty-corner specialist had enough time to get back into rhythm.

“He was away for a few months but hopefully he’ll regain his rhythm before the event.”

The training camp started on Tuesday at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium in Islamabad where the probables are undergoing training sessions, twice a day.

According to Alam, the whole squad apart from goalkeeper Akbar, have joined the camp under the supervision of chief coach Michel van den Heuvel.

“Akbar will join the camp tomorrow as he’s arriving from Holland tonight from his Dutch League commitment.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.