LAHORE: An 18-member hockey squad for the Junior World Cup scheduled to be held from Dec 8 to 18 in Lucknow, India has been selected.

Ammad Shakeel Butt has been named as captain while Mohammad Dilber appointed his deputy.

The national selection committee picked up the squad after holding one-day trials at the Johar Town Stadium here on Wednesday with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president retired Khalid Sajjad Khokar giving approval to the squad selection on Thursday.

On the other hand, head coach Tahir Zaman said that the team was well-balanced and comprised almost the same players who had been in the team for the last one year.

Tahir said that players were upbeat about their participation in the mega event while holding out hope that Pakistan would win the title. The head coach said that it was the best time for players to emerge as heroes of the nation by winning the title on the Indian soil.

Players were only focusing on their preparations, maintained Tahir while setting aside any security fear in India.

The players had been advised to play the role of country’s true ambassadors in India, said the head coach, adding that the selected team would continue to train in the camp until their departure for India in the first week of December.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Ali Raza, Muneeb-ur-Rehman.

Full-backs: Mohammad Atif Mushtaq, Hassan Anwar, Mubashar Ali.

Halves: Ammad Shakeel Butt (captain), Abu Bakar Mahmood, Faizan, Mohammad Junaid Kamal, Tazeem-ul-Hassan.Forwards: Shan Irshad, Mohammad Azfar Yaqoob, Mohammad Dilber (vice-captain), Mohammad Atiq, Mohammad Bilal Qadir, Mohsin Sabir, Rana Suhail Riaz, Samiullah.

Stand-byes:

Hafiz Mohammad Ali Umair (goalkeeper), Zahidullah (full-back), Mohammad Usman (half-back), Muhammad Adnan (half-back), Mohammad Rizwan (forward), Mohammad Naveed (forward), Fahadullah (forward) and Mohammad Umar Hamdi (forward).

Officials:

Khalid Mukhtar Farani (manager), Tahir Zaman (chief coach), Mohammad Irfan, Zeeshan Ashraf (assistant coaches), Ghazanfar Ali (nutritionist), Zahid Ali (analyst), Muhammad Adnan (physiotherapist).

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2016