LAHORE, May 23 A 21-member Pakistan squad left here for Thailand on Saturday to defend the title in the 8th Asian Baseball Cup to be held in Bangkok, from May 24 to 31.

Pakistan had won the 7th edition in Rawalpindi in 2006. The squad includes 17 players and four officials.

He said Pakistan had the abilities to retain the title to enter the Asian Games-2010.

Syed Fakhar Ali Shah is head coach while Arif Ali is assistant coach. Junaid Alam and Etisham-ul-Haq are team leader and manager, respectively.

Team Umair Bhatti, Zaheer Bashir (catchers), Mussadiq Hanif, Arshad Khan (1st base), Imtiaz Ali, Nasir Butt (2nd base), Azam Usman (3rd base), Mohammad Arif, Sarfraz Ahmad (short-stopper), Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Usman (left deep fielder), Sumair Zawar (centre deep fielder), Mohammad Farooq (right deep fielder0. Saleem Haider, Ihsanullah, Hafiz Usman (pitchers).

Schedule of Pakistan matches

May 25 v Malaysia.

May 26 v Sri Lanka.

May 27 v Thailand.

May 29 Semi-finals.

May 30 Final.