LAHORE – Pakistan hockey team head coach and manager Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool Wednesday said the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the test drive of for the new-look team and no one was responsible for the loss as young blood was given exposure in the event. Talking to the reporters after his return from Ipoh, Malaysia with the national team which finished last in the event, Akhtar Rasool said: “It is not fair to fix the responsibility of team’s poor performance on team management or players as five new players were part of the team which could not produce desired results owing to the lack of experience and exposure.” He said the team management, prior to the team's participation in the event, made it clear that they were going to utilise Azlan Shah as a preparatory venture to try out new players keeping an eye on future assignments of the team. “It is a very important hockey year as we will be undertaking the trip of Europe besides playing in Asia Cup and we are focusing on our preparations for next year's World Cup. Azlan Shah Cup was the ideal chance to test new players to watch out their talent ahead of summer tour of Europe,” he added. Akhtar said the team was not at its full strength and composition as veteran half line player Wasim Ahmed was rested and reliable forward Shakeel Abbasi was injured. “It is was a very tough competition in the presence of the world's best sides and our team failed to click due to new players,” he said. The team official said he was not disappointed with the future of the team as a bad result in a tournament did not mean end of hockey. “One has to win and other to loss in the match as it is the part of the game. It is a sour reality that we could not get a good result but at the same time we should realize that we have given ample chance to new players and if they were not given a chance at which stage or in which tournament they were tested ‘,he added.He said as a team chief coach and manager and then having the job of chief selector, he was under heavy load of responsibility and he always liked to take challenges in a decent way. “I have not given up the hope as this team is a combination of talent and potential and with the passage of time, it will blend into a winning combination and what is important at this stage is to contribute efforts with devotion and hard work to eradicate flaws and weaknesses,” he said. To a query, he replied: “The team lost twice to India in the tournament because young players could not sustain the pressure of their earlier defeat. We will work on improving our team's performance and I will be keeping faith in young players who are the future of Pakistan hockey,” he concluded.