Two changes in the squad, the team will leave for Australia on February 2, Rana Mujahid The national squad will consist of 20 league members and six officials. The team will leave for Australia on February 2. Announcing the team at the Naseer Banda Hockey Stadium, Secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation Rana Mujahid and Head Coach Tahir Zaman said that the national squad that went to Australia will also represent Pakistan in the World Cup qualifiers, while Muhammad Imad Butt will lead the Green Shirts. Rana Mujahid said that the issue of players’ dailies has been raised with the government, all the players’ dues will be paid by Friday. Two changes have been made in the Pro League squad. Ali Raza has been included in place of goalkeeper Abdullah Ishtiaq, while Umair Sattar will be part of the team in place of Manan Raza. The team includes Muneeb-ur-Rehman, Ali Raza, Arshad Liaquat, Muhammad Abdullah, Sufyan Khan, Arbaaz Ahmed, Hammad Anjum, Moeed Shakeel, Ghazanfar Ali, Zakaria Liaquat, Umair Sattar, Hanan Shahid, Rana Waheed, Nadeem Ahmed, Abdul Rehman, Rana Waleed, Afraz and Abu Bakar. The team officials will include head coach Tahir Zaman, Mohd Usman, Zeeshan Ashraf, Nadeem Lodhi, Muhammad Aslam and Adeel. Head coach Tahir Zaman says that it is not easy to face strong teams like Australia and Germany, however, the national team will play 16 matches before the World Cup, which will provide an opportunity for full preparation. He said that after a long time, Pakistan is getting a chance to play against top teams and the team will get good practice before the World Cup. Captain Muhammad Imad Butt said that the morale of the players is high, things are going well and he hopes that the Prime Minister will support the national game further. According to the schedule, Pakistan will take on Australia on February 10, Germany on February 11, Australia again on February 13 and Germany on February 14 in the second round of the Pro Hockey League.
