KARACHI, March 19: Chief selector Hanif Khan has said that a young team will be selected for the 21st edition of the Azlan Shah Cup which will be held in the Malaysian city of Ipoh from May 24 to June 3.

“The selectors would be focussing on picking a young team without senior players like Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt who have breached the code of conduct of the Pakistan Hockey Federation by featuring in the un-sanctioned World Series Hockey in India,” he said on Monday.

Apart from Shakeel and Rehan, former Pakistan captains Waseem Ahmed, Zeeshan Ashraf, Imran Khan, Imran Warsi, Adnan Maqsood and Tariq Aziz are representing different teams in WSH.

Hanif added that the PHF would be issuing notices to the players for appearing in the event not recognised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

“As the issuance of the show-cause notices and their reply will take a few weeks, we would not select the players until the final decision is taken,” he added.

Hanif, who was a member of the Pakistan side which last won the Olympics hockey tournament at Los Angles in 1984, said that they will be selecting the best possible side from the available players.

“The performance of the youngsters in Ipoh will help us in selecting the best team for the London Olympics,” he said.

Argentina, Great Britain, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan and hosts Malaysia will be taking part in the 11-day championship with the green-shirts taking on Argentina in the opener on May 24. —APP