Sohail attracted worldwide attention in 2002 when he emerged as the joint highest scorer along with Argentina's Jorge Lombi in the 10th World Cup at Kuala Lumpur. And all 10 goals that Abbas scored at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in the Malaysian capital were off PCs. He managed 44 goals in 2002 and added yet another feather to his cap in that year. Hasan Sardar was Pakistan's top scorer with 150 goals before Abbas unveiled his goal-scoring prowess. During the Six-Nation Invitational tournament at Kuala Lumpur, a month before World Cup 2002, Sohail scored his 151st international goal, becoming Pakistan's all-time highest scorer in international hockey. He struck nine goals as Pakistan managed bronze medals in 17th Commonwealth Games hockey tournament at Manchester. He struck hat-trick when Pakistan routed South Africa 10–2 in bronze-decider on 4 August 2002. Later, in the 24th CT in Cologne, Germany, Sohail played a major role and Pakistan finished third ahead of India.