Pakistan hockey squad named for Azlan Shah tournament

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday named Mohammad Imran the new captain to lead a 18-man squad for next month's Azlan Shah hockey tournament.

The seven-nation event will be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from May 5-15, with world champions Australia, Britain, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea in attendance.

Pakistan, three times Olympic and four times world champions, have shown a return to form internationally since winning the Asian Games title last year after they hired Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel in June 2010.

akistan won the Azlan Shah event in 1987 and 1991.

They face New Zealand in their opening match and arch-rivals India on May 11.

Squad: Mohammad Imran (captain), Shakil Abassi (vice captain), Imran Shah, Imran Khan, Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Tauseeq, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Rashid, Waqas Sharif, Haseem Khan, Mohammad Rizwan Ali,Mohammad Zubair, Mohammad Umar Bhutta, Kashif Shah, Rehan Butt, Waqas Akbar.