Pakistan will look at the Dutch series as an opportunity to get some much needed practice before the World Cup in India this year. -Photo by APP

LAHORE An 18-member Pakistan hockey squad has been announced for the two-Test series against the Netherlands, which will be played at the neutral venue of Doha, Qatar, on Jan 20 and 21.

The squad was selected after one-day trails at the Sialkot Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

The squad will flew to Qatar from Islamabad on Jan 17.

The tour is also part of team's preparations for the World Cup to be held in India next month.

Meanwhile, coach Shahid Ali Khan said it was the best possible team and the series would help a lot in giving more experience to the players before playing the World Cup.

Zeeshan Ashraf is retained as captain.

Squad

Zeeshan Ashraf (captain), Sohail Abbas, Wasim Ahmad, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Mohammad Imran, Nasir Ahmad (goalkeeper), M Rashid, Sajjad Anwar, Mohammad Touseeq, Mohammad Irfan, Waqas Sharif, Mohammad Zubair, Abdul Haseem Khan, Aamir Bhutta, Akhtar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Abbas Haider.