09 November 2004	Tuesday	25 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Nov 8: Except Ghazanfar Ali and Mohammad Shabbir all the other 19 probables called for the national camp in preparation for the Champions Trophy will attend the first day's session at the National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

The prestigious tournament is scheduled to be held at National Hockey Stadium (NHS) from Dec 4 to 12.

Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa told Dawn that Shabbir was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah while Ghazanfar was in England for some family engagements. However, the coach said both would join the camp from Wednesday.

Asif explained that the camp will conclude on the evening of Nov 13 for a four-day break of Eid-ul-Fitr and resume on Nov 17.

Despite the month of Ramazan, the boys would attend two sessions daily, the first from 8am and the second from 2.30pm he added.

He further disclosed that head coach Roelant Oltmans was most likely to join the camp from Nov 21.

Asif pointed out Pakistan was likely to play practice matches against New Zealand, Germany and Spain, before the start of the Champions Trophy.

He remarked that requests from three countries had been received and a final decision was likely in next couple of days.

Holland did not prefer any practice match in Pakistan as they will be reaching Lahore from India after playing a two Test match series.