KARACHI: Pakistan chief coach Shahnaz Shaikh said on Friday players will be shortlisted on Nov 8 while trials will be held on Nov 20 to finalise an 18-member Pakistan squad for the Champions Trophy.

Overall 38 players will be attending the first phase of training at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium from Oct 28.

He said three senior players forwards Shakeel Abbasi and Abdul Haseem Khan and half back Fareed Ahmed have been rested for the Champions Trophy.

“We are looking to test some new boys as we have called up 10 boys of Pakistan junior team for the training camp,” former Olympian said.

He said team will fly to Bhubaneshwar, India on Dec 2 where the event will be held from Dec 6-14.

“We are targeting to finish among the top four teams in Champions Trophy which will be big boost for us,” he commented.

Shahnaz said Argentina had confirmed to play a practice match against Pakistan on Dec 3 and they are in touch with the Netherlands for another practice game on Dec 20.

He said with the members of the selection committee headed by Islahuddin Siddiqui, they are looking to select a team which would be blend of youth and experience.

Shahnaz said he had submitted a request with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for holding month-long training in Europe before the qualifying league semi-finals being held in Antwerp, Belgium, from June 20 to July 5.

“This will be the most important event as top six teams will qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janerio Olympics,” he said.

He said during their stay in Europe, they would be playing practice matches against England, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

“It was very important for Pakistan hockey to play more and more matches against European teams to improve their game,” he said.

He added European standard of hockey was far ahead of Asian teams and Pakistan can only raise their game by playing against them.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2014