Karachi: Pakistan hockey team captain Mohammad Imran who was surprisingly snubbed in the Hockey India League HIL auctions on Sunday, said he was never desperate to feature in the event and his name was sent by the Pakistan Hockey Federation PHF.
The auctions for the multimillion dollar league, sanctioned by the International Hockey Federation FIH were held in New Delhi where over 90 foreign players were put on sale.
As many as nine Pakistan players from the list of 15, fetched contracts from different franchises for the event that will be played from January 17 to February 17.
However, surprisingly Imran along with experienced Abdul Haseem Khan and Mohammad Waqas besides other three players failed to attract any of the six franchises of the tournament.
The Pakistan skipper Imran said he was also seeking the reason why he wasn’t picked in the auction.
“I’ve no clue what happened,” Imran told PPI. “I will ask the reasons from PHF as they sent my name. But I was not much interested in the league so there is no question of disappointment on missing the contract. It was just because of PHF I agreed for the league.”
Imran added he was already planning to feature in the league in England next month.
“I am in talks with league organisers in England and hopefully will go there.”
Meanwhile, the captain said his focus was on winning the Asian Champions Trophy start in Doha from December 20. “We are looking forward to win the title,” he said.
“The players are confident and we will give our best in the tournament.”
Pakistan were scheduled to leave for the tournament in wee hours on Tuesday.