After remaining out of national setup for two years and missing the 2008 Beijing Olympics Abbas was called back into the national squad for the 2009 Hockey Asia Cup where Pakistan lost the final to South Korea. Abbas helped secure qualification for the 2010 World Cup by winning the qualifiers in Lille, France and later finished silver in the Hockey Champions Challenge I in Argentina. Despite good performances in the test series with Netherlands in previous months Pakistan finished their worst 12th at the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi managing to win just a match.