Butt and Ashraf are the only major omissions from the squad which will be led by Mohammad Imran with Shakeel Abbasi, who stood-in for the injured captain on the tour of Australia, named his deputy.
According to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) chief selector Hanif Khan, the team has a very good chance of reaching the last-four of the sport’s biggest event of the year that kicks off from December 3 in Auckland.
“We haven’t made big changes in the squad other than Akbar’s return,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “We added Akbar because we needed a goal-keeper other than Imran Shah. The team did really well in Australia, defeating the world champions and their confidence is high and the coach and the manager will hope to capitalise on that.
“We have a good team, one that is capable of beating any team in the world.”
Akbar, who makes his international comeback after five months, was wary of the competition he faced from Shah for a spot in the playing-eleven.
“It feels good to be back in the team,” said Akbar. “Before joining the camp, I was strictly told that if I don’t make it on the first day, I won’t be considered. The competition in the camp was very tough and the youngsters now have enough experience to carry the team forward.”
Pakistan’s squad
Salman Akbar, Imran Shah, Mohammad Imran, Kashif Shah, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Rizwan, Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmed, Muhammad Rashid, Fareed Ahmed, Muhammad Tauseeq, Waqas Shariq, Shakeel Abbasi, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Rizwan Sr, Muhammad Zubair, Ali Shan, Shafqat Rasool
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2011.
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Every fit player if he is competing with youth should be the part of national team. Age is not the right cirteria as we have seen oldie Zidan of footbal making huge difference in the team. PHF has more empty heads than I thought.