Waseem Ahmad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Waseem Ahmad | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Waseem Ahmad | |
| Date of birth | 10 April 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Vihari, Punjab, Pakistan | |
| Nickname | "Muhammad Waseem" | |
| Position | Left Half | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | WAPDA | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1996–present | Habib Bank / WAPDA / Rotterdam Hockey Clbu (Holland) | - (-) |
| National team** | ||
| 1996–present | Pakistan | 258 (5) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Waseem Ahmad (born 10 April 1977, Vehari) is a Pakistan field hockey player and x- captain. He is regarded as one of the best left halfs in the world, and became the most capped midfielder and second most capped player (after Shahbaz Ahmad) for Pakistan. He has just announced his come back from his retirement.
After announcing his retirement from International hockey during Press Conference held after Pakistan-India third-place match of 26th Champions Trophy in Lahore, former Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmed has now expressed his desire to stage a comeback to international hockey.
He became Pakistan's second most-capped player when he earned his 253rd cap during Pakistan's 3-1 win over Germany on December 4, 2004. He also became the most-capped midfielder of Pakistan's hockey history by edging out Muhammad Usman's record of 210 caps. Former national skipper Usman played as a right-half from 1994 to 2002.
Pakistan's most-capped midfielder became the 34th National hockey Captain of Pakistan when Pakistan clashed with India in the opener of 9th Indo-Pak Series (Friday 24 September) at Karachi's HCP. He was the 17th captain to lead Pakistan in Champions Trophy. Apart from Shahbaz Ahmed, who captained Pakistan 6 times (1990-95) in CTs, only three players have captained Pakistan on two occasions. They are Hanif Khan (1983, 1985), Mansoor Ahmed (1996, 97) and Muhammad Sarwar (2001-02). Islahuddin Siddiqui, Munawwaruz Zaman, Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah Khan, Manzoor Hussain Jr., Hassan Sardar, Rashidul Hassan, Nasir Ali, Qazi Mohib, Muhammad Usman, Atif Bashir and Muhammad Nadeem ND captained once only.
The influential left-half is second in the list of most-capped Pakistanis after Shahbaz Ahmed Sr. (304 caps). Third-placed Tahir Zaman earned 252 caps in a career spanning from 1987 to 1998. Other Pakistanis with 200+ caps in international hockey circuit are Mansoor Ahmed, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Nadeem and Sohail Abbas.
Waseem Ahmad was the seventh midfielder to lead Pakistan. Hamidullah Burki was the first one when he led Pakistan in 1950 World Championship at Barcelona. Burki was followed by midfielders Ghulam Rasool, Anwar Ahmed Khan, Akhtar Rasool, Rashidul Hassan and Muhammad Usman.
He replaced former skipper Mohammad Nadeem alias ND, who quit international hockey after Pakistan finished 5th at the 28th Olympic Games.
The little fellow, with a perpetual grin on his face, is one of the few universally acclaimed stars of modern era Pakistan hockey. The position of left-half is generally regarded as a defensive one in Asian style hockey but, like Fazalur Rahman (1965-72) and Naeem Akhtar (1982-88), Waseem proved this perception wrong. He is not only a dynamo in defence but also in attack. He displays an extremely high work-rate. Waseem, also known as Muhammad Waseem in media, struck 5 goals in 258 international outings.
Born in Vihari, a district of Punjab Province, on April 10, 1977, Waseem made his international debut during 16th Champions Trophy 1996 at Chennai (formerly Madras), India. He possesses excellent tackling and positioning sense in defence. Similarly, he has great ball-control to move up-front, creating gaps in the opponents' defence and supplying superb passes to the strikers.
Waseem played his 200th international hockey match on 24 September 2003 when Pakistan inflicted a 4-2 win over India in the Group-B encounter of 6th Asia Cup Hockey Championship at National Hockey Stadium of Bukit Jalil Sports Complex at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Waseem also struck a precious goal in that match when he converted Pakistan's first penalty corner by beating Indian keeper Devesh Chauhan all ends up. He scored that crucial goal when the match was evenly poised at 2-2.
Waseem won silver medals in Champions Trophy at Chennai 1996 and Lahore 1998 besides bronze medals in 2002 and 2003 editions. He also appeared in CTs of 1997, 1999 and 2001. Waseem also represented Pakistan in Olympics 2000, 2004, World Cup 1998, 2002 and Junior World Cup 1997. He has also won silver medal in 5th and 6th Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur 1999 and 2003 respectively, and bronze medal in 13th Asian Games at Bangkok 1998.
Alongwith Sohail Abbas, he was the only Pakistani to be included in the World XI which played against the Netherlands in Alexandria on October 27, 1999, as part of FIH's 75th Anniversary Celebrations. Waseem used to play for current national champions of Pakistan, WAPDA and he was the vice-captain of Pakistani team that won the third Junior Asia Cup at Singapore 1996. He also won the gold medal in FIH World Youth U18 Festival at Rawalpindi/Wah 1995-96.
