Karachi : Losing to England in Azlan Shah Cup after having beaten New Zealand and South Korea is a healthy sign as it would give Pakistan a wakeup call before the green-shirts goes for challenging matches against Australia and India,
believes former legendary hockey player Shenaz Sheikh. “Pakistan had performed well in the match against New Zealand and South Korea as they won both the matches with a two goal margin. So losing narrowly to England by 3-2 score is a wakeup call for Pakistan before they go in the match against Australia and India,” Shenaz Sheikh told PPI on Sunday.He said that he had reports that England is making huge efforts to lift the game ahead of London Olympics in order to make a forceful show at home. “England hockey is prospering. They are making great efforts to prepare a strong team for Olympics at their home-ground,” he said.Meanwhile, he said that he took the defeat to be a healthy sign as it would bring back the green-shirts out of complacency, which he believe to have overcome Pakistan after they recorded back-to-backtriumph in their first two matches. “They would now not be complacent anymore and would go with their eyes wide open for a victory againstAustralia and India,” he added.He further said that Pakistan has a bright chance to qualify for the final of Azlan Shah Cup as he believed that two win and draw is required to secure place in the final now. “They have accumulated six points and I believe they need seven more points to qualify for the final out of their remaining three matches. I think they would easily overpower hosts Malaysia but the matchagainst India and Australia would be a challenge,” he explained. However, he added that India doesn’t have a very strong team and Australia has brought too many new players therefore Pakistan could overpower them.He predicted that the final line-up would be constituted out of Australia, Pakistan and South Korea. PPI