Pakistan captain Mohammad Imran stressed that the national hockey team needed to form a good back-up of players in time for the 2014 World Cup that will be held in the Netherlands.

After the greenshirts failed to win a medal in the London Olympics last year, Pakistan’s hockey authorities set sights on the World Cup and started planning for the mega tournament.Imran felt the current year was crucial for preparations for the prime challenge, insisting the team needed to increase its bench strength for the purpose.The team management added new players for next month’s Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Malaysia by resting senior players like leading striker Shakeel Abbasi and veteran Waseem Ahmed.

The captain, who led Pakistan to three consecutive medals in team’s previous assignments, termed it a timely decision by the team officials.“It is the right decision to test new players in this tournament,” Imran told The Express Tribune. “After that we’ll play important tournaments like the Asia Cup which will be a qualifying event for the World Cup.”

“We cannot afford to experiment there and since we need to increase our bench strength this year, it’s the perfect time.“We will give our best and all of us are working very hard in the training camp. But what we have planned for the Malaysia event is to test different strategies and combinations in this tournament. By doing that we’ll have an increased pool for forthcoming tournaments which is very important for us as the World Cup is our main target.”

He added that the senior players will be missed in the Malaysia event.Definitively, they are our main players but one has to lose to gain something.”Imran claimed that by winning the bronze medal in the Champions Trophy, the team had showed it has the potential to do well against opponents from outside Asia as well.Tauseeq out of Azlan Shah Cup after injury

Meanwhile, Pakistan suffered a blow as rising player Mohammad Tauseeq was ruled out of the Azlan Shah Cup after sustaining an injury during the training camp.“I hurt my hip and right leg during the training session,” said Tauseeq. “The doctors have said it will take two to three weeks to recover and I will not be able to play the tournament.”Tauseeq said he was disappointed but hoped to return to action soon.

The training camp of the Pakistan hockey team for the Azlan Shah Cup is in full swing at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore.
The team management has arranged practice matches for the players who have been divided into two groups — Pakistan Colours and Pakistan Whites.