Rizwan to lead Pakistan against World XI

KARACHI: Rizwan Ali will lead the side that will take on the visiting World XI in two matches in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announced on Wednesday.

Junaid Manzoor will be the vice captain. PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed announced the team after two-day trials at Edhi Stadium which were conducted by the national selection committee led by Islahuddin Siddiqui on Tuesday and Wednesday.

After consultations with the team management, it picked the team which, after playing the two matches against the World XI, will visit Argentina next month to play five test matches against the Olympic champions Argentina’s senior team.

The selection committee members Farhat Khan, Musaddiq, Ayaz Mehmood and Qasim Khan supervised the trials. Pakistan: Waqar Younas and Adil Rao (Goalkeepers).

Defenders: Junaid Manzoor (captain), Rizwan Ali (vice captain), Moin Shakeel, Adeel Latif, Shahzaib Khan, Ghazanfar Ali, Afraz Hakeem, Umair Sattar, Naveed Alam, Amjad Ali. Forwards: Awais Arshad, Rana Waheed, Ahmed Nadeem, M Ilyas, Waqar Ali, Zakirullah, Ibrahim. Standbyes: Ali Raza and Umer Bilal (defenders), Hammad Anjum, Murtaza Yaqoob, and Zahan Butt (forwards).