Hockey legend Hasan Sardar says he would now prefer cricket over hockey

Lamenting on the current state of hockey in the country, Pakistan hockey legend and Olympic gold medalist Hasan Sardar said that he would have preferred cricket over hockey in the current scenario.

"There is no hockey culture in Pakistan now. People are into cricket more, people follow cricket more. I think that if I was a kid now with talent in hockey, I would prefer playing cricket than hockey. People are charmed by cricket," Sardar told PTI.

Sardar, considered as one of the best centre-forwards of his time, was part of Pakistan's 1982 World Cup squad and 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning Pakistan sides. The hockey great was of the view that the game has failed to produce any heroes in recent times.

"Now kids want to become hero, they want role models. Hockey doesn't have any such heroes at the moment till we start winning," he added.

Considered one of the powerhouses of hockey, Pakistan struggles to survive now, while winning tournaments seems like a dream, the Men in Green lost to Germany 1-0 in their opening encounter at the ongoing Hockey World Cup.