Munawar uz Zaman was Pakistan’s Greatest Left Full Back : PHF

Lahore : 28^th July marks 22^nd death anniversary of Pakistan’s former hockey captain Munawar uz Zaman.

Regarded by many as the finest left full back to play for Pakistan, he played for the national team from 1971-80.  He shot into prominence in the very first international outing. In the inaugural World Cup in 1971, during the semi-final against arch rivals India, world’s most feared penalty corner expert Tanvir Dar got injured with the score at 1-1. Munawar was called to take the penalty corner. It was his first international strike on penalty corner and instantly became a national hero, scoring the match winning goal.

Interestingly, he had a knack of scoring goals against India in vital games: finals of both the 1974 (Pakistan won 2-0) as well as the 1978 Asian Games (Pakistan won 1-0).

He was Pakistan’s victorious captain at the 1980 Champions Trophy when they steamrolled all the opposition. Both India and Australia were defeated by the record margins of 7-1.

His medal cabinet shows two World Cup golds and one silver, Olympic silver and a bronze, two Asian Games golds and two Champions Trophy golds.

Munawar died with his boots on.  On 28 July, 1994, while having a rest at what is now Edhi hockey stadium, during a training session with the Pakistan veterans’ team for the Veterans’ World Cup, he suffered a cardiac arrest and couldn’t survive.