LAHORE: Three campaigners were axed while new player Nadeem Ahmad was selected as the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Wednesday announced an 18-member squad for the Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham from July 28 to Aug 8.

According to a short press release issued by the PHF, the squad was selected after the trials were held for which no prior announcement was made by the federation.

Veteran forward Umar Bhutta, 29, has been retained captain for the 10-team competition.

Three players namely midfielder Ali Shan and forwards Abu Bakar and Mohammad Salman Razzaq, who participated in the Asia Cup held in Jakarta earlier this year, were axed while new face Nadeem Ahmad, a forward, was picked.

The press release claimed that the squad was selected by the national selection committee, which also announced the team management, which is the PHF domain.

The PHF recently repla­ced chief selector Manzoor Junior with Kaleemullah.

Pakistan for the Comm­onwealth Games hockey event are placed in pool ‘A’ alongside Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Scotland. Pool ‘B’ comprises India, England, Canada, Wales and Ghana.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Akmal Hussain, Abdullah Ishtiaq Khan

Defenders: Mubashir Ali, Amad Shakeel Butt, Mohammad Hammad, Mohammad Abdullah, Rizwan Ali

Midfielders: Mohammad Umar Bhutta, Moin Shakeel, Abdul Mannan, Junaid Manzoor, Ghazanfar Ali

Forwards: Ajaz Ahmed, Rana Abdul Waheed, Rumman, Afraz, Abdul Hannan Shahid, Ahmed Nadeem

Team management: Ajmal Khan Lodhi (manager), Siegfried Aikman (head coach), Syed Sameer Hussain (assistant coach), Nadeem Khan Lodhi (video analyst), Adeel Akhtar (physio)

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2022