Islamabad: Ammad Shakeel Butt has been named as Pakistan’s 18-member captain for the Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy, which begins on May 4 in Ipoh, Malaysia.
A three-man selection panel comprising head coach Roelant Oltmans, Manzoorul Hasan and Shahid Islam (DDG Pakistan Sports Council) has selected 44 players for the four Tests at the Bunda Ground on Sunday, shortlisting the final tour squad and seven reserves. for the annual “There was some discussion about some players, and finally the team agreed on the best team,” Oltmans told the media when announcing the tour team.
Five players from the Karachi camp were also made into the tour squad. These include Abdullah, Muhammad Abdullah, Ehtisham Aslam, Murtaza Oqaqob and Arshad Liaquat. These five players arrived from Karachi on Saturday to take part in the trials.
There was a good debate about the selection of Ehtisham Aslam, Akil Ahmed and Hammad Anjum. Ehtisham made the team based on his performance in the last trial, where he was well regarded when they were placed in the reserves.
Seven reserves will be selected for the Nations Cup in Poland from May 31. All those not registered in Malaysia will be replaced by the Nations Cup reserves. The tournament is more important for Pakistan as it will be a qualifying event. The winner of the Nations Cup will advance to the FIH Pro League next season. Talking about the Pakistan team’s expected performance in the upcoming Azlan Shah Trophy, he said that he won the tournament and always came out on top of every game.
“I’m not going to confess for a long time, mainly because of the problems of our team at home. As a team, these players have not started training. We will not have enough time to warm up in Malaysia because we have to go the day before the first match against Malaysia. However, I feel that Our players are good enough and talented enough to do well in this event. This team is a mixture of youth and experience, with some talented players from the Junior World Cup.
Oltmans said the players lost the deficit to work harder. “They will play in the national team in the coming days. Our main goal now is to secure a place in the next Olympics and play all other hockey events from here.”
The selected team will be the arm of PHF under president Tariq Bugti after approval from all stakeholders including Government of Pakistan, PSB, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and FIH.
