The PHF selection committee also retained Zeeshan Ashraf as captain who led the side in Commonwealth Games where the team finished a dismal sixth. Apart from the inclusion of Abbas and Akbar, the team is almost the same as the one that featured in New Delhi last month as Mohammad Umer Bhutta and Imran Shah were dropped to pave way for the duo.
Abbas, the world leading scorer, will be seen in action for the first time after the World Cup earlier this year as he missed the rest of this year’s action due to differences with the federation. The drag-flick specialist’s participation in the Asian Games also fell in jeopardy due to non issuance of accreditation but the federation was hopeful of getting the go-ahead.
“The inclusion of both the experienced players is a boost for team,” chief selector Hanif Khan told The Express Tribune. “The team has a lot of best available players and we are expecting a better performance from them.”
Pakistan has been placed in Group B along with arch rivals India, Japan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong in the ten-team competition. South Korea, China, Malaysia Singapore and Oman have been included in Group A.
Pakistan will open their campaign in the event with a game against Hong Kong on November 17 and will play against Japan on the following day. They will take on India on November 20 before meeting Bangladesh in their last group match on November 21.
Pakistan’s squad
Zeeshan Ashraf, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Imran, Salman Akbar, Mohammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammad Rashid, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Tauseeq, Abdul Haseem Khan, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Shafqat Rasool, Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Waqas Sharif, Mohammad Rizwan
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2010.
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