Thaindian News

Karachi, Feb 6 (IANS) Seasoned defender Zeeshan Ashraf will lead Pakistan in the 2010 men’s Hockey World Cup to be held in New Delhi Feb 28-March 13.
Zeeshan was retained as Pakistan’s captain when an 18-man squad was named in Lahore Saturday after two days of trials at the National Hockey Stadium.

The national selectors were forced to drop talented forward Waqas Sharif because of injury. They opted to recall experienced goalie Salman Akber, who was axed after a poor showing in the Champions Challenge in Argentina in December.

Pakistan coach Shahid Ali Khan is satisfied with the team and said that it was a good blend of youth and experience.

“It is a very balanced team. We have some very experienced players as well as several talented youngsters, which is why I’m confident that we can do well in the World Cup,” Shahid told IANS.

Pakistan is scheduled to leave for New Delhi Feb 22 though the team is yet to receive clearance from the government.

The former world champions will play India in their opening match Feb 28. Other teams in their pool are Australia, Spain, England and South Africa.

Defending champions Germany head Pool A, which also includes Argentina, Canada, South Korea, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Pakistan squad:

Goalkeepers: Nasir Ahmad and Salman Akbar

Defenders: Zeeshan Ashraf, Sohail Abbas and Muhammad Rashid

Midfielders: Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Muhammad Imran, Fareed Ahmad and Sajjad Anwar

Forwards: Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Zubair, Akhtar Ali, Omer Bhutta, Abbas Haider and Muhammad Rizwan

Officials: Asif Bajwa (manager), Shahid Ali Khan (coach), Shafqat Malik and Wouter Tazelaar (assistant coaches), Jos Geijsel (physical trainer), Nadeem Lodhi (video analyst) and Faiz Ur Rehman (physio).