New Delhi: Pakistan Hockey Federation’s new step has left the players of the Pakistan team in shock. The PHF on Wednesday decided to replace their current head coach, Australian Colin Batch, with former Olympian Manzoor ul Hasan for the upcoming FIH Pro Nations League and the 2026 hockey World Cup.
As per a report in news agency PTI, this move has has left all the players of the Pakistan team stunned as they wanted Batch to train them for the big upcoming events. One of the players spoke to the new agency and said that PHF’s decision to named Manzoor as the head coach is a ‘recipe for disaster.’
Why are Pakistan players shocked?
As quoted by PTI, one of the players said that they all were happy that Australian Batch, who is a qualified coach and aware of the modern day hockey nitty gritty would be guiding them in the major events this year but this sudden move has left the entire team in shock.
Players demand younger, knowledgeable coach
Despite Manzoor being a celebrated defender who played in the 70s and 80s for Pakistan, the players want a younger coach preferably of foreign origin who has a good knowhow about present day hockey as the sport has evolved over the last three to four decades.
The interim PHF set-up also named a national selection committee headed by another celebrated Olympian Samiullah Khan. The other selectors include Naeem Akhtar, Kashif Jawad, Muhammad Khalid, Nasir Ali and Atif Bashir.
It is also being learnt that the players would collectively to speak to the interim President and convince him to hire a foreign coach. Currently, some of the players are busy playing in the foreign leagues.
Pakistan finally managed to qualify for the World Cup being held in Belgium and the Netherlands in August after eight long years when they played in the final of a qualifying tournament in Egypt.
The PHF also named Ayaz Mahmood as head coach of the Pakistan junior team.