Greenshirts’ training camp for World Cup starts tomorrow

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team’s training camp for the 2018 World Cup will begin Tuesday (tomorrow) in Lahore.

The 2018 Hockey World Cup will be held in Bhubaneswar, India from November 28 to December 16. “The boys can report till Monday evening and the camp will start on Tuesday,” head coach Hasan Sardar informed ‘The News’ on Sunday. “The camp will continue till the team’s departure to India.”

Another coach Tauqir Dar, who replaced Mohammad Saqlain, will also join the camp.The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is planning to send the team to India few days before the start of the tournament to allow them to get use to the conditions.

“The team performed well in the Asian Champions Trophy. The boys played bravely,” Sardar said. “The side is going through a rebuilding process and are doing well despite financial crisis,” he said.

However, the coach added that players need to be more focused and competitive for the World Cup. Pakistan are placed in Pool D with Germany, Netherlands and Malaysia.“All our opponents are tough. We cannot afford any type of laziness,” he said.

Pakistan conceded a lot of goals in the Asian Champions Trophy and now Sardar wants to work on defense and goalkeeping.“Poor marking of defenders and goalkeeper’s wrong judgment were the reasons of conceding so many goals. The management will now work to remove these flaws and also to improve the players’ fitness,” he added.

Pakistan will play two practice matches, against France and Ireland, before the World Cup.National chief selector Islahuddin has already announced 26 probables for the training camp.Probables: Imran Butt, Mazhar Abbas, Amjad Ali, Mohammad Irfan Sr, Rashid Mehmood, Mohammad Aleem Bilal, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Mubashar Ali, Tasawar Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan Sr, Mohammad Toseeq Arshad, Ali Shan, Mohammad Umar Bhutta, Abu Bakar Mahmood, Shafqat Rasool, Mohammad Azfar Yaqoob, Mohammad Arslan Qadir, Ajaz Ahmad, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Rizwan Jr, Mohammad Dilber, Mohammad Atiq Arshad, Mohammad Faisal Qadir, Mohammad Atif Mushtaq and Saran Bin Qamar.