ISLAMABAD – Chief selector Hanif Khan on Sunday announced the 18-member hockey squad at the Nasir Bunda Hockey Stadium with ace penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas as captain of Pakistan for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament 2012 and tour of Europe.
Coach Akhtar Rasool, Kh Junaid and Khaild Bashir were also present on the occasion. Hanif Khan said that 6 players from junior hockey team were inducted in the team on their good performances in Asian Junior Cup. They are Kashif Shah, Khalid Bhatti, M Rizwan Junior, M Tauseeq, M Umar Bhutta and Ali Shan as they want to give them exposure at senior level.
The team will depart on May 18 from Lahore to Kuala Lumpur for appearing in the event will commence from May 24 at Ipoh, Malaysia. Apart from Pakistan, teams from Great Britain, New Zealand, Argentina, India, Malaysia, and Korea will contest in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
The camp for Pakistani selected players will start in Lahore.
Pakistan will take on Argentina on May 24 in the opening match of the tournament. The team would return on June 4. Pakistan team will leave for three-nation tournament on June 8.
The training camp for the Olympics will start from June 24 to July 12 in Lahore. Team will on July 12 for Canon (England) for Olympics training camp and on July 24 will shift to Olympic village.
Replying on a query regarding non availability of blue turfs, Akhtar Rasool said that boys are capable of playing on any kind of surface and for this purpose they have arranged European tour to prepare them on these turfs.
Squad: Sohail Abbas (captain), Waqas Sharif (vice captain), Imran Shah, Imran Butt, M Irfan, Kashif Shah, Khalid Bhatti, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, M Rizwan Junior, M Tauseeq, Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, M Rizwan Senior, M Zubair, M Umar Bhutta, Shabbir Ahmed Khan and Ali Shan.
Following is the schedule:
May 24:     Pakistan vs Argentina
    India vs New Zealand
    Korea vs Malaysia
May 25:     New Zealand vs Argentina
    Great Britain vs Malaysia
    India vs Korea
May 27:     Pakistan vs New Zealand
    Korea vs Argentina.