HI prunes list of probables to 30
Hockey India on Thursday pruned the list of probables attending the National probables camp at the Sports Authority of India campus here to 30, asking 12 players to leave with immediate effect.
The 30 includes 18 members of the September 3-11 Asian Champions Trophy team, six stand-bys, and six players who missed the selection trials held here last weekend due to injury.
The 12 players who have been asked to leave the camp include seniors Adrian D’Souza, Prabhjot Singh, Prabodh Tirkey, Vikas Pillay, Divakar Ram and William Xalxo. Interestingly, Adrian and Prabhjot were part of a quintet that skipped two days of training during the first phase of the probables’ camp and were slapped with a temporary ban and a show-cause notice.
While hard-working midfielder Sardar Singh and drag-flick specialist Sandeep Singh managed to make the cut for the Ordos, China meet, Adrian and Prabhjot were dropped due to ‘below-par’ performance. Arjun Halappa missed the trials because of a groin injury.
Camp co-ordinator and assistant coach SS Grewal, however, allayed any fears that this would be the end of the world for the 12 players. “The 12 players are still part of the core group of 48. The plan now is just to have the Asian Champions Trophy squad, it’s stand-bys and the six injured here. The 12 players will return to training for the third phase of the probables’ camp that will be held after the China trip. Until the end of the third phase, the core group will remain at 48. There is no question of the seniors being sidelined,” said Grewal.
The selection trials concluded on Sunday and the team for Asian Champions Trophy was announced on Tuesday. When asked why the players were told to leave only on Thursday, the former India international said injury concerns to some from the main team forced the management to delay their departure.
“We planned to play some practice matches against each other. From the 30, already six are injured. A few more from the ACT team were hit by minor injuries which left us with just 18. With 24 players appearing fit, we asked the others to leave.” Meanwhile, Shivendra Singh, who suffered a career-threatening collar bone injury during the Senior National Championship held at Bhopal in May, reported at the camp for the first time on Thursday. “I am happy to be back. It will take at least three more weeks to get back to normalcy, following which I need to undergo three more months of rehabilitation. The entire programme will be worked out by (exercise physiologist) David John,” Shivendra said.
Group of 30: Bharat Chetri, PR Sreejesh, Sandeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Harpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Manpreet Singh, Manjit Kullu, Rajpal Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Sarvanjit Singh, SV Sunil, Ravi Pal, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Roshan Minz, Yuvraj Walmiki, Kamaldeep Singh, VR Raghunath, Vikas Sharma, Birendra Lakra, Mandip Antil, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam; Injured: Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay, Dharamvir Singh, Bharat Chikara, Tushar Khandkar, Shivendra Singh.
Probables asked to leave: Adrian D’Souza, Prabhjot Singh, Prabodh Tirkey, Vikas Pillay, Kothajit, Amar Aiyamma, Vikramkanth, Divakar Ram, Ajitesh Roy, William Xalxo, Bikas Toppo, Banmali Xess.