Pakistan names World Cup squad

Lahore: The government clearance for travelling to India is still awaited but that has not stopped Pakistan from announcing an 18-member squad, to be led by Zeeshan Ashraf, for the hockey World Cup starting on February 28 in New Delhi.

There were no major surprises in the squad, with the set of players being retained for the World Cup who recently played in a qualifying tournament in France and in a Challenge Cup event in Argentina.

Pakistan will open its World Cup campaign on February 28 against India.

Official clearance awaited

Although the Pakistan Hockey Federation announced the squad, it is still awaiting official clearance from the government. The PHF has asked for clearance from the Ministry of Sports which will in turn get clearance from the Interior and Foreign Affairs ministries.

But a PHF official said he didn’t foresee any problems in getting the clearance as the government itself was keen to see the team play in India despite the recent fiasco over the Indian Premier League players’ auction.

An Olympic gold medal winner of the 1986 team, Shahid Ali Khan, will coach the team, while Asif Bajwa will be its manager.

Pakistan introduced the World Cup trophy in 1971. They won the title in the inaugural year before getting it again in 1978, 1982 and 1994.

The squad: Zeeshan Ashraf (capt.), Nasir Ahmad, Salman Akber, Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Sajjad Anwar, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Zubair, Akhtar Ali, Omer Bhutta, Farid Ahmed, Abbas Haider, Muhammad Rizwan and Muhammd Rashid. — Agencies