ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The four-time former champions Pakistan kept faith in halfback Muhammad Saqlain when he was reappointed captain among an 18-member team announced on Saturday to compete in the next month's men's World Cup field hockey tournament in Germany.

The national selection committee headed by former Olympian right-winger Khalid Mehmood announced the team after the one-day trials at Abbottabad.

The team will leave for Germany via Paris from Islamabad on August 22, taking part in Hamburg Masters Hockey Tournament before heading for the World Cup to be played from Sept 6-17 at Monchengladbagh, a small town near Dusseldorf.

Muhammad Saqlain, who lost captaincy to fellow halfback Ghazanfar Ali for last month's Champions Trophy at Terrasa (Spain) due to an earlier ban imposed by FIH, was renamed skipper of the World Cup-bound squad while star forward Rehan Butt is the vice-captain.

The selected squad consisted of seven forwards, six halfbacks, three full backs and two goalkeepers.

Squad: Salman Akbar and Nasir Ahmed (goalkeepers), Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan and Ehsanullah (fullbacks), Ghazanfar Ali, Adnan Maqsood, Waseem Ahmed, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Saqlain and Dilawar Hussain (halfbacks) and Rehan Butt, Adnan Zakir, Waqas Akbar, Shakeel Abbasi, Akhter Ali, Muhammad Shabbir and Muhammad Zubair.—APP