Focus on forwards, drag flickers: Sardar

KARACHI: Pakistan’s head coach and manager Hasan Sardar has said that the Asian Champions Trophy is an important event because it is the final stage to prepare the team for World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in December.

While talking to ‘The News’ on Monday, he said the forwards and PC specialists could not score goals in Asian Games. “Our focus during the training camp will be on the forwards and the drag flickers ahead of Asian Champions Trophy,” he added.

It is pertinent to note that Sardar has been given additional charge of head coach after the resignation of Roelant Oltmans. The training camp begins in Lahore from Tuesday (today).

“We will address the weaknesses that we identified in Asian Games. Mubashir and Aleem Bilal will be our main drag flickers on PCs, and during the training camp, they will be doing maximum practice in short corners.

“The forward line played well occasionally. Their inconsistency has been the reason behind our defeats in the recent past. The forwards were successful in creating chances but they were poor in finishing,” said Sardar, an Olympian.

He said that the goalkeeper and defenders played well, conceding very few goals in the Asian Games. “We will strengthen them further,” he added.

The Asian Champions Trophy is to take place in Muscat, Oman, from October 18. The event will feature hosts Oman, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and India.

There have been four editions of this event with India winning in 2011 and 2016 and Pakistan in 2012 and 2013. Pakistan are the only side to have featured in all four finals.

In 2016 in Malaysia, India edged out Pakistan 3-2. Malaysia come to the tournament having claimed silver in the Asian Games.

Asian Games gold medalists Japan will also be looking to make the Trophy another one of their success stories after their sublime campaign in Jakarta last month.Meanwhile, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has named 31 players for the training camp.

The players have been asked to report at National Hockey Stadium.Players called: Imran Butt, Mazhar Abbas, Amjad Ali, Irfan Senior, Rashid Mehmood, Aleem Bilal, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Mubashir Ali, Tasawwar Abbas, Rizwan Junior, Rizwan Senior, Toseeq Arshad, Ali Shan, Umar Bhutta, Abu Bakar Mahmood, Shafqat Rasool, Azfar Yaqoob, Muhammad Atiq, Arslan Qadir, Ajaz Ahmad, Rana Suhail Riaz, Irfan Junior, Muhammad Dilber, Faisal Qadir, M Rizwan, Atif Mushtaq, Rizwan Ali, Muhammad Zubair, Saran Bin Qamar, Muneeb-ur-Rehman, Zeeshan Bukhari.