KARACHI: Penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas will lead the Greenshirts at the Azlan Shah Cup and tour of Europe ahead of the Olympics, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announced.

Abbas, who began his career in 1998, will be leading the national team for the first time at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup being held in Ipoh, Malaysia from May 24-June 3 2012.Great Britain, New Zealand, Argentina, India, Malaysia, and Korea will also be participating in the seven-nation tournament.

Pakistan's European tour will begin from June 8 during which they will be playing against teams from Germany, Belgium and Netherlands. The training camp for the Olympics will begin for the Greenshirts from June 24 in Lahore.

The team was selected after trials in Islamabad and chief selector Hanif Khan said some players had also been included after their impressive performances in the Junior Asia Cup.

Squad:

Sohail Abbas (captain), Waqas Sharif (vice captain), Imran Shah, Imran Butt, M Irfan, Kashif Shah, Khalid Bhatti, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, M Rizwan Junior, M Tauseeq, Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, M Rizwan Senior, M Zubair, M Umar Bhutta, Shabbir Ahmed Khan and Ali Shan.