PAK RETAIN SENIOR PLAYERS FOR EUROPEAN HOCKEY TOUR

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has retained senior players Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmed, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi and Salman Akbar in the national team for the forthcoming training tour of Europe.

The Hanif Khan-led PHF selection committee, which also includes Arshad Ali Chowdhry and Khalid Bashir as members, retained the senior players, who were part of the Azlan Shah Cup runners-up team, after trials conducted here on Tuesday.

Pakistan will play in Dublin, Amsterdam and Belgium during the Europe tour, which is seen as a preparation for the Champions Trophy later this year and 2012 London Olympics.

During the tour, Pakistan will play a four-nation tournament in Dublin from June 20 to 25, a four-nation event in Amsterdam from June 28 to July 2 and Test matches against New Zealand and the Netherlands from July 5 to 16.

The PHF has also permitted foreign coach, Michel van den Heuvel to conduct a high level training camp in Amsterdam for the players.

The team will be led by Muhammad Imran while Abbasi will be his deputy.

PAKISTAN SQUAD: Muhammad Imran (capt), Salman Akbar (gk), Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Muhammad Tousiq, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, Muhammad Waqas Sharif, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Rizwan Senior, Muhammad Zubair, Waqas Akbar, Syed Kashif Shah, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi (vice-capt), Shafqat Rasool, Imran Shah (gk).

TEAM OFFICIALS: Khawaja Junaid (team manager), Michel van dan Heuvel (head coach), Shahid Ali Khan (asst coach), Ajmal Khan Lodhi (asst Coach), Faiz-ur-Rehman (physiotherapist), M Nadeem Khan Lodhi (video analyst).