Sohail on board, PHL gets a boost

After weeks of uncertainty, the fledgling Premier Hockey league was today given its star attraction: Sohail Abbas, the world’s leading ...

After weeks of uncertainty, the fledgling Premier Hockey league was today given its star attraction: Sohail Abbas, the world’s leading goalscorer. Also confirmed, a day after Spanish captain Juan Escarre was named, is former Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmed.

Though the Pakistan Hockey Federation had earlier announced the names of eight players for the league, the two star players were added later. ‘‘I got a call today from PHF secretary Musratullah Khan, who confirmed that the two players would be taking part in the PHL,’’ IHF general secretary K Jothikumaran said.

When contacted by

class="keywordtourl" href="https://indianexpress.com" class="">The Indian Express, Sohail said he was happy at the turn of events,. ‘‘I’ve always wanted to play in India’’, he said.

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However, he will be available only from the second week of the league, which begins on January 13. ‘‘The Pakistan national championships are currently on and get over on January 12’’, he said.

The IHF had long been working on Sohail’s participation in the league but he and Waseem had publicly said they’d be playing in the Dutch league after announcing retirement. However, say sources, the main hurdle in getting Sohail was not the Dutch league but his reluctance to participate on behalf of the PHF after announcing his retirement.

Sohail hinted as much at this. ‘‘The Dutch league was not a problem, there were other reasons for my not deciding to play initially,’’ he said. But he added that playing in India was never a problem or a reason for the delay. Sources in the IHF reveal that Sohail will be paid around 2.5 lakh for his appearance in the league, more than double than the top Indian players.