LAHORE, June 22: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) retained full-back Mohammad Imran as captain of the national team for the upcoming World Hockey League (WHL), a qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup, while naming the 18-member squad on Saturday.

The green shirts will leave for Malaysia on Sunday to take part in the World Hockey League where England, South Africa and the host Malaysia are the other teams in their pool.

The team was announced in Karachi after conclusion of the training camp at the Hockey Club of Pakistan. Seasoned campaigner Waseem Ahmed was a major omission from the team, mainly due to a shoulder injury.

Waseem, who was part of the national training camp in Abbottabad, got injured in a road accident near Jehlum while coming back to Lahore after attending the camp. His absence was termed as a big loss to the national team by head coach Akhtar Rasool.

“I am deeply disturbed by Waseem’s absence owing to an injury problem because he is a key player in the national side. We will miss him in Malaysia but we are praying for his early recovery,” Akhtar told Dawn from Karachi.

However, both Akhtar and team coach Hanif Khan were upbeat about the chances of the national team in Malaysia where the tough event commences from June 29.

“The team is in good shape and I am quite satisfied about its potential to win the qualifying round,” Akhtar said.

Hanif claimed that the team could do well in all departments of the game in Malaysia and the players were in perfect shape. “The penalty-corner department and the forward line is boosted and will hopefully excel in Malaysia,” Hanif said.

He pointed out that the return of Shakeel Abbasi, Zubair, Umar Bhutta and Rizwan Senior had added to the strength of the team.

Meanwhile, former Olympian Manzoor Junior slammed the team management for retaining half of the players who were part of the debacle at the 2010 World Cup.

But despite the faith of coach and manager in the side, one must note that not too many youngsters have been inducted into the side and it is more or less the same squad which finished a disappointing last in the 12-nation World Cup.

As many as nine nine players including Mohammad Imran, Fareed Ahmad, Mohammad Irfan, Rashid Mahmood, Shakeel Abbasi, Mohammad Zubair, Haseem Khan, Umar Bhutta and Rizwan Senior were part of the World Cup squad which totally flopped.

Manzoor Junior, while commenting on the squad selected for Malaysia, said: “They are all the same players. It shows what preparation the PHF and the national team management of Akhtar Rasool have made in this four-year period for the 2014 World Cup.”

He said the team was not selected on merit and seems there was no national selection committee and the boys were included on the basis of ‘favouritism’.

He pointed out that Abbas Haider who had been discarded as a junior player in the year 2006 has suddenly come back into the national team which is quite amazing.

The other pool in the WHL comprises Germany, Argentina, Japan and South Korea.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Imran Butt, Imran Shah. Full-backs: Mohammad Imran, Khalid Bhatti, Mohammad Atiq. Half-back: Mohammad Irfan, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mahmood, Tauseeq Ahmed, Aamir Shahzad. Forwards; Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Mahmood, Haseem Khan, Rizwan Senior, Shakeel Abbasi, Umar Bhutta, Abbas Haider, Mohammad Zubair.