Shahril believes Razie and Co can take over his penalty corner duty

PETALING JAYA: Shahril Saabah (pic) used to be one of Malaysia’s top penalty corner takers but the striker will not be unduly worried if he doesn’t get to play that role at the World Cup which begins in India on Jan 13.

The experienced Shahril, who has 148 international caps, is grateful to be included in the Speedy Tigers squad after recovering from knee and ankle injuries he suffered two months ago which almost ended his chances of playing at the World Cup.

Having missed the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh and the Nations Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa, during the agonising two months, Shahril is down at the pecking order in the list of regular penalty corner takers in the national squad.

Specialist flicker Razie Rahim will spearhead the team and he will be supported by Faizal Saari, Najmi Farizal Jazlan and Aminuddin Zain during penalty corner conversions in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

Shahril, in his own reckoning, feels that he may not be used during the penalty corners.

“I have not practised taking penalty corners over the last two months due to my injury. I believe Razie, Faizal, Amin and Najmi have improved a lot in this area,” said Shahril. “Razie and the others have been doing a good job and have been consistently scoring for the team.

“I have recovered fully and I’m just happy to be back in the team to play in my third World Cup.”

Shahril does not have fond memories as Malaysia finished last in the 2014 edition at the Hague where he made his debut and the Tigers finished 15th out of the 16 teams in Bhubaneswar four years later.

“The last two World Cups I played, we finished last in 2014 and second last in 2018. Personally, I hope we can improve and get a better position,” added Shahril.

Besides Shahril, the other strikers in the team are Faizal, Shello Silverius, Norsyafiq Sumnatri and Ramadan Rosli while Malaysia have also brought along two more reserves Tengku Nasrul Ikmal Hakimie Tengku Abdul Rahim and Shamie Irfan Suhaimi as cover in case of injuries during the tournament. Malaysia, who arrived in Bhubaneswar yesterday, are in Group C with world No. 2 Holland, world No. 9 New Zealand and world No. 22 Chile. The Tigers, currently ranked world No. 11, open their campaign against Holland in Rourkela on Jan 14.