Pakistan's hockey team was slammed by the country's former players following the disappointing 1-4 defeat against arch rivals India in their World Cup opener in New Delhi.
Pakistan's hockey team was slammed by the country's former players following the disappointing 1-4 defeat against arch rivals India in their World Cup opener in New Delhi.
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Former Olympians and experts blamed poor preparations and a lack of game plan as the main reasons behind Pakistan's poor start to the World Cup campaign Sunday night.
Former Pakistan captain Hanif Khan said there was no coordination between the Pakistani forwards and defender and India exploited this weakness.
Hanif also blamed the Pakistani players for individualistic approach saying they seemed to be playing for personal glory.
Shahbaz Ahmed, who led Pakistan to its fourth World Cup title in Sydney in 1994, attributed the loss to the failure of senior players like Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt and Shakeel to perform.
"In such high-pressure matches you can only win if your senior players give their best and inspire the younger ones to do a good job," said Shahbaz.
Shahbaz was surprised at the team management's inability to come out with any back-up plans after drag flick specialist Sohail Abbas failed to find the net.
"All teams know that we rely heavily on Sohail Abbas, so it was expected that India will be ready for him. I'm surprised why we didn't use any other variations to convert the short corners."
Mansoor Ahmed, another former Olympian and ex-captain, said that Pakistan's 1-4 defeat was its worst ever showing against India.
"I'm not disappointed at losing the match but with the way we lost it," said the former goalie.
"Personally I believe that it was our worst ever showing against India. It's all the more heart-breaking because our hockey officials made tall claims before going for the World Cup," he said.
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