Hockey Asian Champions Trophy: Pakistan captain Bhutta motivates young team

Unfazed by responsibility of leading the team in the Asian Champions Trophy, Pakistan captain Umar Bhutta said that he was geared up to motivate the team to do well in the important tournament

Unfazed by the responsibility of leading the team in the Asian Champions Trophy, Pakistan captain Umar Bhutta said on Wednesday that he was geared up to motivate the team to do well in the important tournament.

Bhutta is the senior-most player in this young Pakistan side, and he said his task would be to ensure optimum performance from his players.

"Of course, there is an extra responsibility as a skipper. Since the team is quite young, I have a job to get the team together and motivate it. So, hopefully, I can make them perform to their fullest and motivate them to put their everything for this event as well as for the Asian Games," Bhutta told PTI.

Having failed to qualify for the FIH World Cup earlier this year, Pakistan will see the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games as an opportunity to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.

However, Bhutta said the enormity of the target has not added any extra dollop of pressure on the Pakistan players.

"I don't think so (that there is any extra pressure). If we don't qualify for a big event like the World Cup, of course, it's sad, as we lose out on playing quite some matches, which in turn affects our rankings."

"All we need to think about is performing on a match-by-match basis. If we perform, we can qualify for the Olympics and playing the matches there will allow us to better our rankings and improve the quality of our hockey," he said.

"Even India won an Olympic medal after 40 years. It's a long process. So, hopefully, we can put on a good show here and in China and fight for a medal in Paris next year," he said.