LAHORE: Pakistan’s national hockey squad left for India on Saturday morning to take part in the World Cup which will be held in Bhubaneswar.

The Mohammad Rizwan Senior-led team departed for the neighbouring country via Wagah Border to participate in the World Cup that will be staged from Nov 28 to Dec 16 at the Kalinga Stadium. Pakistan are placed in pool ‘D’ alongside Holland, Germany and Malaysia for the 16-nation showpiece.

Pool ‘A’ includes Argentina, France, New Zealand and Spain; pool ‘B’ contains defending champions Australia, China, England and Ireland while Belgium, Canada, South Africa and hosts India constitute pool ‘C’.

Former four-time world champions Pakistan — who won the World Cup in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994 — begin their campaign at the mega event with the pool match against Germany on Dec 1.

The green-shirts take on Malaysia on Dec 5 before facing the Netherlands in their last pool-stage on Dec 9.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2018