Pakistan recalled penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas and centre-half Waseem Ahmed in a 18-man squad for this month's Champions Trophy hockey tournament to be played in Teressa, Spain, between July 22 and 30.
KARACHI: Pakistan recalled penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas and centre-half Waseem Ahmed in a 18-man squad for this month's Champions Trophy hockey tournament to be played in Teressa, Spain, between July 22 and 30.
Abbas, who has scored a record 278 goals, and Waseem Ahmed had come out of retirement earlier this month after hanging their boots after Lahore edition of Champions Trophy in December, 2004.
"(Sohail) Abbas and (Waseem) Ahmed are back in the side after they unconditionally made themselves available for Pakistan," Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Musarratullah Khan said.
The return of Abbas meant no place for penalty corner executioners Mohammad Imran and Imran Warsi who were pushed to the standby list. The two were part of the Pakistan hockey squad for the last 18 months.
The PHF also named defender Ghazanfar Ali as captain in place of midfielder Mohammad Saqlain who will not be available for the first three games following ban in International Hockey Federation (FIH) sanctioned events.
Saqlain was banned by FIH for rough a tackle against a German player during the Robo hockey tournament in Netherlands last year.
The six-nation elite tournament will also competed by Australia, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Argentina.
Pakistan face Australia on the opening day.
Pakistan squad: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmed, Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Imran, Ehsanullah, Ghazanfar Ali (capt), Mohammad Saqlain, Dilawar Husain, Adnan Zakir, Waseem Ahmed, Rehan Butt (vice-capt), Shakeel Abbasi, Saleem Khalid, Akhtar Ali, Adnan Maqsood, Waqas Sharif and Mohammad Zubair.
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