Rest seniors for Azlan: Harendra Singh

BANGALORE: National coach Harendra Singh feels India ought to rest the seniors for the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from May 6 to 16.

“This would be our first exposure tournament after the World Cup. I would prefer a squad comprising players from the development squad and those who did not figure in the recent World Cup. This will help us broaden our pool of players. And, those who do well at the Azlan Shah should be rewarded with berths in the national team,” Harendra told TOI.

Harendra argued that Australia, who are one of the participants in this year’s tournament, were sending their development team, with just a smattering of the seniors, including Grant Schubert, Kieran Govers and Kiel Brown — who took part in the World Cup.

Australia coach Ric Charlesworth too was quoted as saying that he had deliberately chosen a young squad for the tournament as it would help in exposing the Kookaburras to quality teams and add to the depth of the squad.

“I feel Australia have already dropped a hint about the things to come. If my guess is right, they may not field their best players at the Commonwealth Games too,” Harendra said.

The camp for the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament may begin in the latter half of April. “We will decide after chief coach Jose Brasa returns to India in the first week of April after his vacation,” Harendra said. “A decision on the team composition — whether it will be the seniors or the development team — will also be made then.” The other teams in the tournament include Korea, China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt.