Pakistan hockey legend Hasan Sardar is not a very happy man these days.
Pakistan hockey legend Hasan Sardar is not a very happy man these days. As though Pakistan hockey's dismal performance in the FIH World Cup held in February-March in New Delhi was not enough ufffd they finished 12th and last in the quadrennial competition ufffd the recent spot fixing controversy involving Pakistan's cricketers has pained him further.
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| Hockey great Hasan Sardar |
"Pakistan cricket and its cricketers are going through a bad phase, but I'm sure none of our players are involved in spot fixing," he told MiD DAY from Karachi.
Sardar now hopes honour is restored for Pakistan in hockey at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, especially since they will be facing traditional rivals India once again after their 1-4u00a0 loss to the hosts at the World Cup.
Sardar hinted that the Pakistanis will be hungry for revenge this time round.
"The Pakistan hockey team has been working very hard since the World Cup and they are an improved lot. An India-Pakistan hockey match is always a very close call and October 10 will be no different. Whichever team takes their chances, will win," said Sardar arguably the best centreforward Pakistan has produced.
In the 1980s, Sardar, Kaleemullah, Samiullah, Hanif Khan and Shahnaz Sheikh formed one of the most dreaded attacks in world hockey.u00a0 Ask former India goalkeeper Mir Ranjan Negi, who conceded as many as seven goals in India's 1-7 humiliation at the hands of the neighbours in the 1982 Asian Games hockey final. Sardar scored a hat-trick in the match that turned Negi's life turned upside down. A section of the Indian public branded Negi a traitor, claiming Pakistan had bribed him to let in the goals. Sardar refutes the allegation very strongly. "It's nonsense. Given the passion for hockey between the two countries, it's ridiculous to even suggest such a thing.
"Negi was a great goalkeeper. He simply had a bad day in the final," Sardar had told MiD DAY during the World Cup in New Delhi. Of course Negi's story went on to make for a super hit Bollywood script and Chak De! India brought some honour back for the custodian.
