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ISLAMABAD Pakistan is looking to win the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia, from April 5 to 12.
Being regulars at the Cup, Pakistan have featured in it 15 out of the 18 times that it has been held and have even managed to win the 1999, 2000 and 2003 editions.
Speaking to Dawn on Monday, the captain of the national team Zeeshan Ashraf said that the squad carried potential to confirm a spot in this year's final.
'The upcoming championship will be a test run for the Asia Cup,' said Zeeshan, a veteran of 295 international matches.
The Asia Cup, to be played in Dubai earlier, has now been shifted to Malaysia and will get underway from May 9. The winner of that tournament will qualify for the 2010 World Cup in India.
When it was pointed out to the captain that his team had not played international hockey for quite some time now, he said 'That should be no excuse for the professional players, who have played several international matches in Malaysia which also includes matches against India and New Zealand.'
'The Pakistan team happens to be a pretty balanced side as far as defence and attack go.' The tournament features India, Egypt and New Zealand besides Pakistan and hosts Malaysia.
While commenting on the inclusion of two new players, Zeeshan Ali and Sibtian, the Olympian said 'Both would benefit the team as they are good right- and left-half players.'
When asked why Pakistan was going to Malaysia with only one goal keeper, Zeeshan replied 'We are doing this only on an experimental basis as we have a strategy to work on over there. Hopefully, we will be joined by Salman Akbar in the Asia Cup.'
Last Year's Azlan Shah Cup saw Pakistan finishing fourth. The squad will be flying to Kuala Lumpur from Islamabad on April 1 — a few days before their opening match against hosts Malaysia.
