Champions Trophy: Pakistan pick new faces Sajjad, Waqar
By Our Sports Correspondent
LAHORE, Nov 19: Two new faces, Sajjad Anwar and Waqar Sharif, have been included in the Pakistan’s Champions Trophy hockey squad, while Mohammad Saqlain, facing an inquiry by FIH for misconduct, has been retained as captain on Saturday.
Sajjad and Waqar have replaced Ghazanfar Ali and Kashif Yaqoob. The six-nation contest will be played from Dec 10-18 in India.
Ghazanfar did not report at the training camp which is in progress at the National Hockey Stadium. Ghazanfar has preferred to play in league in England.
The chairman of selection committee Akhtar Rasool, however, claimed that Ghazanfar, who is in England, could not join the camp since he was to receive his new passport on Nov 25.
About Kashif, the chairman selection committee said the player had failed to retain his place due to poor performance and Waqar was given a chance. Kashif has been placed in seven standbys for the camp.
Mudassir Ali Khan has been retained as vice-captain. Akhtar said the team had been selected with the consent of coach Asif Bajwa and ex-officio member of the selection committee, team manager Saeed Khan.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmad.
Full-backs: Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Imran, Imran Warsi.
Half-backs: Imran Khan, Mohammad Saqlain (captain), Dilawar Hussain, Adnan Maqsood, Sajjad Anwar.
Forwards: Rehan Butt, Mudassir Ali Khan (vice-captain), Shakeel Abbasi, Tariq Aziz, M. Shabbir, Adnan Zakir, Waqar Sharif, Akhtar Ali.