Shahid’s tips made my comeback successful: Imran

KARACHI: Pakistan’s ace goalkeeper Imran Butt is satisfied with his comeback in the international hockey, but says he will be happy only when he helps Pakistan win a major tournament.

Imran conceded seven goals in the Commonwealth Games.

Pakistan had been conceding goals in bulk in international matches before the CW Games.

The poor performance of goalkeepers compelled PHF and national selection committee to call him back.

Talking to ‘The News’ from Abbottabad, Imran said he was grateful to goalkeeping coach Shahid Ali Khan whom he called his “mentor”.

He said that Shahid did a lot of hard work with him. “His tips improved my abilities and gave me immense confidence,” Imran said.

But he said that he would be completely satisfied only when Pakistan won an international event with his contribution.

Imran said that CW Games proved a morale-boaster for the team. “It has given us a lot of confidence.

Playing against England, India, Canada, and Malaysia and not losing to them proved that our team is improving and playing competitive hockey. Previously, we had been losing against low-ranked teams, which demoralised the entire hockey fraternity,” he added.

He mentioned that the Champions Trophy in Holland next month would be a great opportunity for the team to learn ahead. “We will get great experience as the world’s best hockey teams will be there. Whether we win or lose, we will get better by playing there. That will be beneficial for us in Asian Games, which is our main target. Winning that event would take us directly to Olympics 2020,” the goalkeeper said.

Imran said he knew that there was no reliable second-choice goalkeeper, so he would have a lot of workload and pressure on him. But the team management is working to groom a couple of goalkeepers, he said.

He said he expected the team management to resolve this problem in future.

He said that he would decide about his international career after the World Cup (in December this year).

Imran applauded the performance of Pakistani defenders in the CW Games, whose timely tackling saved Pakistan from defeats and helped him in goalkeeping.

“In today’s hockey, the goalkeeper alone cannot do anything. The team must have solid defenders. Even the first line of forwards has to support us sometimes in modern-day hockey,” he said.