Hockey coach quietly confident of new-look team

KARACHI: The new-look Pakistan hockey team is all set to face the seven-team challenge in the forthcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, scheduled to be played from May 6-16 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

Although the chief coach and team captain have already asked the nation not to expect miracles from them right away, one cannot help associating renewed hopes from the new-look side. With a new team management, a new captain, new goalkeepers and several fresh recruits in the side, the fans as well as the critics are expecting some kind of a positive outcome from the squad.

As it is, the team can only improve from the rock bottom 12th position attained in last month’s World Cup in New Delhi, which was easily the darkest hour of Pakistan hockey. “Yes, this is not the same team that failed so miserably in last month’s World Cup.

There has been a 70 per cent change in the side with the infusion of fresh blood but it will be unfair to expect much from the boys so soon,” said Chief Coach Khawaja Junaid while speaking to Dawn on Saturday. “Of course,” he added, “Like the rest of the six teams in the event, we are also going to enter the competition with a positive outlook.

We want to win gold, too, but there are the ground realities that prevent us from thinking big. Pakistan, after all, is still recovering from the World Cup fiasco. But having said that, I can also say that I feel confident of better performance from the young talent in the side,” he said.

Asked if there would still be a chance for the seniors, who have been left out for Azlan Shah, to make a comeback after the tournament, the chief coach who has been upgraded from the coaching assignment of the junior team said that it depended on how well the green shirts performed in the event. “If we manage to make a mark in the competition, then there will be a level of competence that the seniors will have to match in order to make a comeback,” he pointed out. “If they can do that, they are welcome back. Another positive side of that happening would be that we get to increase our pool of national team players,” he said. “And if nothing else, the experience of Azlan Shah would increase the boys’ confidence level as the exposure while playing with the big teams will be good for them,” he added.

About his new captain, fullback Mohammad Imran, coach Junaid said he was perfectly capable of leading the Pakistan side in the event. “Imran is a very confident and capable young man. He is a brilliant fullback and penalty-corner specialist as well. I’m sure he won’t let the team miss Sohail Abbas in Malaysia.” The team leaves for Malaysia in the wee hours of Monday. Besides Pakistan and hosts Malaysia, the other teams taking part in the event are Australia, China, Egypt, Korea and India.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Imran Shah and Imran Butt.
Fullbacks: Mohammad Imran (captain), Aamir Shahzad and Kashif Ali.
Halfbacks: Mohammad Irfan, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Rasheed, Zeeshan Ali and Mohammad Tauseeq.
Forwards: Waqas Sharif (vice captain), Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Rizwan, Abdul Qayyum Dogar, Kashif Ali and Umar Bhutta.
Officials: Khawaja Junaid (chief coach), Ajmal Khan Lodhi (coach), Ahmad Alam (assistant coach), Faiz-ur-Rehman (physio) and Nadeem Khan Lodhi (video analyst).

PHF axe World Cup flops for Malaysia hockey contest

KARACHI: Pakistan Wednesday dropped seven senior players responsible for an abysmal World Cup hockey campaign, hoping to regain the glory from scratch with next month's tournament in Malaysia.
Pakistan, three-time Olympic gold medalists and four-time world champions, finished last in the India World Cup earlier this year in what was described as their lowest ebb.
Captain Zeeshan Ashraf, Akhtar Ali and Mohammad Waseem requested a rest while world record goal-scorer Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi were not selected.
Goalkeeper Salman Akbar, also played in World Cup, did not attend the trials.
Chief selector Hanif Khan said three senior players requested rest, while others were rested by the selection committee as they had failed to impress in the trials in Karachi on Wednesday.
“We have rested senior players Abbas, Butt and Abbasi as they looked mentally stressed in the trials, so we have selected new players in a hope that it starts a new beginning for Pakistan hockey,” Khan told reporters.
Abbas, tipped to lead the side for the Malaysia event, is the only man to score over 300 goals in the history of international hockey.
The 18-man team will be led by 30-year-old full-back Mohammad Imran. Pakistan will feature in the 6-16 May Azlan Shah tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia.
The other competing teams are world champions Australia, Asian champions South Korea, hosts Malaysia, India, China and Egypt.
Khan hoped untested players would usher in a new era in Pakistan hockey.
“We have the Commonwealth Games in India and then the Asian Games later in the year, so we hope that this new team settles soon. Don't expect medals from this team soon but, once it settles, it will win laurels,” said Khan.
Pakistan will also have a new coach in Khawaja Junaid after Shahid Ali Khan was sacked last month.
Team: Mohammad Imran (captain), Imran Shah, Imran Butt, Aamir Shahzad, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Rashid, Zeeshan Ali, Mohammad Tauseeq, Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Rizwan, Andul Qayyum, Kashif Ali, Umar Bhutta.—

Ataullah wins first career bout at Youth World Boxing

Karachi- Pakistan’s promising boxer Attaullah Khan won his first career bout on his debut in international boxing in AIBA Youth World Boxing Championship at Baku,Azerbaijan on Monday,Attaullah (54kg) beat Malik Hossain Yemeni (Jordan) and dazzled with his power packed punching and agility to outpunch his opponent in a one sided affair with a score line of 16-3,said the information made available here.

With this success Attaullah has moved to pre quarter round of the event.
However, Pakistan’s experienced boxer Obaid Ali was beaten by Jordanian Amjad Mohammad Ahmed 7-4.

The winner established supremacy from the first round taking 3-1 and then onward built on his earlier success to win the bout.
Another Pakistani boxer Mohammad Tanveer (64kg) got a bye in technical draws and he reached second round.
Pakistan’s fourth boxer Mohammad Asif will open his campagin tomorrow, Tuesday.

New Zealand - Sri Lanka T20 Series an investment for the future of USA Cricket

Speaking on a range of topics over the weekend in connection with the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka series in Florida, both USA Cricket CEO Don Lockerbie and NZC CEO Justin Vaughan concurred that the series should be viewed as an investment for the future.

"The series will run at a loss. The US is a market that needs to grow to love and appreciate cricket before you can start really trying to run profitable events," Mr. Vaughan told The New Zealand Herald. "In the long term it could be a really good deal for us," he added. Speaking to a different newspaper, The Dominion Post, Mr. Vaughan said: "It is not like rugby [All Blacks playing Bledisloe Cup matches in Asia] where you get an immediate financial return, that is not the case. It is part of a longer term relationship."

In an email to DreamCricket.com, Don Lockerbie wrote: “This match series is the launch of a long term commercial partnership between USA Cricket and New Zealand Cricket and so we are not measuring the success of the event in the revenues raised so much as we are the exposure for the sport n the USA.”

“We have a long term business model in the works - and I can assure you that the new venture will be profitable and raise significant revenues to develop cricket in the USA and fund the initiatives our board has been busy developing for the long term growth of cricket in the USA,” Mr. Lockerbie noted.

Speaking about how this would evolve, Mr. Vaughan said: "We'd like to think the Black Caps would play there (in USA) annually. Ideally we'll go there to or from tours to the West Indies or on the way to England. They will always be short series. Possibly we'll play Pakistan there."

Mr. Lockerbie said that the organization was working on quite a few sponsor opportunities - besides announcing the Indian development firm Pearls Infrastructure as the title sponsor for the series.

Pic (Right): As readers who watched today's IPL final may have observed, Pearls is a major sponsor in Indian cricket. The logos of Pearls and its sister company P7News appear prominently on the right sleeve of the Mumbai Indians team shirt.

“We hope to announce more sponsors in short order - meanwhile we are happy to hear from any companies interested in a commercial partnership,” Mr. Lockerbie wrote. Adding, “we are close to securing the worldwide broadcast rights for the event and will make this announcment when all becomes official”

Speaking about the logistics of managing such a large scale event, Mr. Lockerbie said that The Pearls Cup will be managed in a collaborative manner with New Zealand Cricket providing their experienced operations staff to work closely with USACA Cricket Operations Director Sheikh Manaf Mohamed.

He hoped that USA Cricket could host the two teams to world class standards. “A full event calendar will be developed and finalized shortly. My goal is to read in the press that the players have had a remarkable experience in the USA and want to come back to help us develop the sport. The goal for USA Cricket is to have our "Destination USA" program launch our development initiatives - intended to resource our regions with funding and programs to teach the sport and recruit American players to build our base for future national teams.”

“We have a team developing of sports marketing and management people from the area and also have quite a bit of interest from the ICC - who are sending umpires and officials directly from the World T20 to officiate.”

Answering a question on whether USA will also play in an exhibition match in the tournament, Mr. Lockerbie wrote that the NZC vs SL matches will be played on May 20th, 22nd and 23rd. According to Mr. Lockerbie, USACA was working to finalize separate matches between USA and Jamaica on the May 21st as part of the event. Similarly, there would potentially be a double header on 22nd to compliment a T20 match featuring New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Mr. Lockerbie noted that “these USA matches will come a week before Team USA travels to Bermuda to compete as the defending champions in the ICC Americas Championships.”

“We won this tournament in 2008,” he reminded.

Commenting on USA's readiness to compete against test-playing countries, Mr. Vaughan told The Dominion Post that USA still has some ways to go. “I'm sure in three to five years they would like to see themselves in a tri-series or something."

Responding to a separate question on whether the teams playing in The Pearls Cup would be full-strength sides, Mr. Lockerbie noted: “The two full members will come directly from the World T20 in the West Indies.”

New boys give England World T20 edge: Anderson

LONDON — Fast bowler James Anderson has tipped England's new faces to help them to a first global title in the upcoming World Twenty20.

Somerset's Craig Kieswetter scored his first international century on the recent tour of Bangladesh and Michael Lumb impressed for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

And Anderson has backed the fresh faces, who could open together, to make England a force to be reckoned with in the tournament which starts on Friday.

"They are new to the team and they bring a fearless element to the top of the order," Anderson told reporters at London's Gatwick Airport ahead of the team's departure for the West Indies.

"They are exciting players -- I have seen a lot of them in Twenty20 cricket -- and Michael has been out in the IPL so he's got a lot of Twenty20 experience and they both bring a lot of excitement to the top of the order.

"At the top of the order you have got to make the most of the first six overs and you need that element of fearlessness and they have got a fresher outlook because they have not been around the squad that long."

Despite appearing in three World Cup finals, the last of which was in 1992, England is only the major playing nation not to have won an ICC global tournament.

But Anderson is confident that unwelcome statistic will soon be erased from the record books.

He said: "We have shown glimpses of what we can in the past in tournaments.

"In the Champions' Trophy we showed we are improving at the short form of the game. And with the new additions to the squad we are strengthening in the right areas.

"I think this is an exciting squad - not just the 11 that are playing - we have got 16 players who can win games for England.

"We go into every tournament thinking we can win it. We have got a new-look squad with some guys who are less experienced but do bring that element of excitement to the team.

"We have got a great chance. We had a good tour of Dubai and a good one-day series in Bangladesh so if we can gel together early in the tour there is no reason we can't go on and win it."

Anderson rested whilst England were in Bangladesh to recover from a knee problem but has taken 11 wickets in two Championship appearances for Lancashire since returning to action.

He added: "For me it was about getting some overs under my belt and testing the knee out to make sure it could stand up to bowling again. It has done that and now we can get out to the Caribbean and start thinking about Twenty20 cricket."

Fourteen squad members flew to Barbados on Sunday. Captain Paul Collingwood is already in the Caribbean and Kevin Pietersen will join the team on Tuesday after his involvement in the Indian Premier League.

Brit boxer Amir Khan to quit in 2015

London: WBA World light welterweight champion Amir Khan is planning to quit boxing in five years after beating American legend Floyd Mayweather Junior and Philippine Manny Pacquiao on his road to superstardom.

"In the next four years I will have all my big fights so in five years time I will be gone," News of The World quoted Khan, as saying. "When I hit my peak I will be fighting men like Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao. They will be my last few fights." "There are so many big fights in my division, but my body will tell me when to call it a day," he added. Khan insists the decision is not a knee-jerk reaction after his closest friend, British boxer Jamie Moore, retired two weeks ago. "You need to know when it is the right time to call it a day and, believe me, I will get my retirement right. You need to know when to walk. As soon as you have gone past your peak and start getting hurt, be man enough and walk away like Jamie," Khan said. "He lost fights against Ryan Rhodes and Sergey Khomitski, men he would have beaten at his best," he added. Khan will become the youngest Briton in history to defend a world title in America when he puts his crown on the line against Paulie Malignaggi in Madison Square Garden's theatre on May 15.

Pakistan leave for WI with title defence task

LAHORE: The defending champions of World Twenty-Twenty, Pakistan left for West Indies to defend their title in just over 10 months time from Lahore International Airport.

Talking with reporters at the airport, Twenty20 skipper, Shahid Khan Afridi said that he has a mission in hand to defend the title in West Indies and he has a team that has the potential to repeat the heroics of the last year.

Afridi said that apart from the title defence, he has another big task as captain. “With the support of my players and team management, I would try to keep Pakistani players away from all the controversies”, Afridi added.

Pakistani team left the Lahore Airport with two of the players not travelling with the squad. Fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sami will leave for the Caribbean separately owing to personal problems. Mohammad Asif is planned to leave for London as he is banned to enter UAE for lifetime, from where, he would reach West Indies to join his team, while Mohammad Sami doesn’t have British visa therefore he would first go New York then he would join his team mates in the Caribbean.

Just before flying to the West Indies, Pakistan also survived an injury scare. Kamran Akmal narrowly escaped fears of being dropped Friday when he was able to clear a fitness test.

Afridi said that fielding is the one area that we will give the utmost attention during the World Twenty-Twenty.

“I have a well balanced team in batting and bowling, and we have to further lift the standard of fielding. Fielding is crucial in this fastest version of the game and a lot of hard work was done to raise the standard”, Afridi told reporters at the airport.

While talking about chances of Pakistan in the ICC tournament, the Boom Boom Afridi said that a circle of experts is saying that Pakistani team is somewhat weak in the batting department, but I think we have got good bunch of batters who can play as per the situation. Moreover, our spinners are world class, and with the West Indian pitches favouring spinners more in the recent past, our spinners would give us the real edge over out opponents. “Our batting firepower includes Misbah-ul-Haq (a genuine Twenty Twenty player), Abdul Razzaq (a classy allrounder), young Umar Akmal (hard-hitting fellow), Khalid Latif (devastating opener) and Salman Butt (experienced bullock). We have got great spinners in shape of mysterious Saeed Ajmal, gutsy Mohammad Hafeez and myself. Our pace department is also stronger than the rest as it has fast bowlers like Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Aamer with Abdul Razzaq as a helping hand. So all in all, we have great chance of making it two in a row.

Pakistan would play their first game in the tournament against Bangladesh on May 2 at St Lucia. Australia are the other side in the Group A of the ICC World Twenty-Twenty Championship.