Thaindian News

Lahore, April 2(ANI): Pakistan is hoping to avenge the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final loss at the hands of India by defeating the archrival in an upcoming encounter, this time on the hockey field.

Archrivals India and Pakistan will meet again on the hockey field for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup clash on May 11.

Although the build-up is incomparable to the World Cup semi-final, Pakistan hockey team manager Khwaja Junaid has vowed to avenge the loss by settling the score with India on the hockey field.

“I agree that cricket is the most popular game,” The Express Tribune quoted Junaid, as saying.

“But I assure the nation that we’ll have a great contest against India and defeat them to avenge our cricket loss,” he added.

Pakistan, four-time world champions and 2010 Asian Games winners, have retained their Dutch coach Michel Van Dan Heuvel till the 2012 London Olympics.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has reacted strongly to the absence of players from the training camp set up in Islamabad for the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, saying that the absentees will not be awarded the central contracts.

While captain Zeeshan Ashraf Ashraf said that he wanted to “skip the tournament to give young players a chance’, Sohail Abbas and Mohammad Wasim have conveyed their unavailability for the camp as they are busy with personal commitments.

However, the PHF has made it clear that the central contracts will be awarded only to those players who are available to represent the country when needed.

“How can a player be given a contract when he’s not available to represent the country?” questioned a PHF official “Apart from the performance we’re also considering including only players who are willing to play at all levels,” the official added. (ANI)