During his early years in international hockey, veteran half back Abdul Rasheed was also a member of the Pakistan team. Hence, he was called Abdul Rasheed Junior.

He was born in Bannu in 1947. This town of KP has always been a great hockey nursery. His elder brother was none other than Abdul Hameed Hameedi. When Rasheed began playing hockey in earnest, the elder brother`s name had already been enshrined in Pakistan`s sports history.

Hameedi, who played in four Olympics (1948-60), first led the Pakistan team at the 1956 Olympics where Pakistan won silver, the country`s first Olympic medal in any sport. Then in 1960, under his captaincy, Pakistan won their first-ever Olympic gold medal. All this put kid brother Rasheed in the spotlight from his early days. Like Hameedi, he too started as an inside right.

Rasheed first caught the attention when he scored two goals in Peshawar Zone`s 3-0 win over the visiting Australian national side in 1967. Same year, he was called in the camp for the London Pre-Olympic Tournament which was managed by his brother Hameedi. But Hameedi did not select him in the 18-member team. He debuted for Pakistan at the 1968 Pre-Olympic Festival in Kenya when Manzoor Hussain Atif had become the manager.

He was still an inside right when called for the 1968 Olympics camp managed by Pakistan`s greatest hockey brain MH Atif. He noticed Rasheed`s right arm was about 3-4 cm shorter than his left arm which was the result of a badly aligned fracture during childhood. Therefore, he gripped the hockey stick with right hand at the top. Atif turned this into an advantage by switching Rasheed to the centre forward position. Because of the smaller right arm, Rasheed employed a shorter back lift while shooting at the goal. It deceived the defenders as his hit took less time than those of others. Atif worked hard to make him a complete central striker: positioning, stopping, combining with the inners.

At the 1968 Olympics, Rasheed Jr announced his arrival at the biggest event bagging a hat trick in Pakistan`s opening match against the strong Holland side.

Pakistan won all their eight matches on the road to the final. The Green-shirts regained the gold defeating Australia 2-1 in the final where Rasheed scored the first goal. With seven goals, he finished as the Olympics` joint top scorer and became a household name in the country.

There was no looking back. At the next title tournament, the 1970 Asian Games, Rasheed was again Pakistan`s top scorer with nine goals. The nerve-wrecking final against India remained scoreless before entering the sudden death/golden goal period. It was Rasheed who scored the gold medal-winning goal. As soon as he found the target, Rasheed ran towards the team bench to embrace his brother Hameedi, who was the manager of Pakistan.

Pakistan completed the grand slam by winning the 1971 World Cup too. Penalty corner king Tanvir Dar topped the tournament`s scoring chart. He scored eight of Pakistan`s 14 goals. Rasheed (three goals) was his team`s second top scorer. His most important contribution came in the semi-final against India which Pakistan won 2-1. Pakistan had been trailing 0-1. Just before the half time, defender Tanveer Dar sent a ball scooping deep into the Indian territory. Rasheed sprinted to pounce upon the ball before renowned Indian full-back Michael Kindo could reach and in his characteristic style sent the ball into the cage in a flash.

Rasheed got goals especially in the vital stages of the knockout games at all the three title events, a testimony to his big-match temperament.

Pakistan were the silver medallists at the 1972 Olympics and Rasheed was again their main goal getter with five against his name. Hosts West Germany defeated Pakistan 1-0 in an ill-tempered final. Pakistani team`s misbehavior at the medal ceremony prompted a ban from the FIH. Hence, those players had to be sidelined for the 1973 World Cup.

Rasheed Jr was back for the 1974 Asian Games and also captained the team. Pakistan retained the gold, again defeating India in the final. The skipper was his side`s top scorer with 13 goals.

He got another honour when he was named the captain of the Asian hockey team which played a widely publicised match against the European XI in Brussels in 1974.

In preparation for the 1975 World Cup, Pakistan played a 4-test home series against Australia. Skipper Rasheed sustained an injury and missed the 1975 World Cup.

He was fit for the 1976 Olympics and emulated his illustrious brother by captaining the Olympic team. In fact, they are the only pair of brothers to captain Pakistan at the Olympics. Favourites Pakistan lost to Australia 1-2 in the semi-final and had to settle for a bronze medal. The Montreal Olympics turned out to be his swansong.

Rasheed is the only Pakistani to have a complete set of the Olympic medals: gold, silver and bronze. He was a gold medallist in his sole World Cup appearance and also at both the Asian games.

He was Pakistan`s top scorer at two Olympics as well as the two Asian Games.

He had the highest tally of international goals (96) for any forward in the world at the time of his retirement. A remarkable career!

Rasheed lacked the dribbling skills and body swerves of Pakistan`s other high scoring centre forwards, Hasan Sardar and Abdul Waheed Khan, but possessed the uncanny ability to be at the right position at the right time.

Being a brave man, he was never bothered by defenders` rough tactics or minor injuries. His stoppage of powerful crosses from either wing was excellent. Add to all this, his deceptive but accurate scoring shot, and he made a complete marksman who was called King of the D.

Long after his playing days, Rasheed was called to manage the Pakistan’s national team. In that role, too, he achieved great success. First, in 1994, Pakistan won the annual Champions Trophy title after a gap of 14 years. Later that year under his tutelage, Pakistan won the biggest prize, the World Cup, after 12 years. This made him the first person to win the World Cup both as a player and as the manager. This has been the country`s last global title.

Players who played under him talk highly of Rasheed`s managerial skills, and called his attitude towards them like that of a fatherly figure. He created great harmony among the boys. Everyone in the squad felt as if he was Rasheed’s most favourite. This inculcated a great team spirit which was pivotal in Pakistan winning those two big events in 1994.

Rasheed Junior has left this world but his achievements both as a player and the manager make him immortal in the annals of Pakistan`s sports history.

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