Gagan Ajit and Vikam Pillai are among the notable omissions for the Asian Games.
Indian Hockey Federation has announced a 23-strong Asian Games probables list who will be training at Roukela hockey facility from 4th November onwards under the chief coach V. Baskaran.
Gagan Ajit and Vikam Pillai were among the notable omissions in the list, though captain Dilip Tirkey, who was recently declared in the team of the year list, is retained. Dilip TIrkey is presently playing in Dutch league. Other Monchengladbach players missing are Kanwalpreet Singh and Nitin Kumar, who were not considered for the first phase of camp too.
Forward Adam Sinclair and defender William Xalxo have been recalled to the camp. Both played the last Olympics and since then Xalxo has been surprisingly in and out of the team. Adam’s recall seems illogic, as he had not been among the goals or shown any form of worth since playing the 2005 Champions Trophy. The better choice could have been Veerasamy Raja or Bikas Toppo, who not only led Delhi to the final of the Jalandhar nationals, but also proved to be good scorer.
23 Probables: Goalkeepers: Adrian D’ Souza (IA), Bharat Kumar Chetri (Karnataka), B.Sreejesh (IA), Shanmugasundaram (TN); Fullbacks: Harpal Singh (Namdhari) William Xalxo (BPCL), Raghunath (IOC), Dilip Tirkey (IA); Midfielders: V.S. Vinaya (IA), Prabodh Tirkey (IA), Gurbaj Singh (IA), Ajmer Singh (AI), Senthil (TN), Viren Rasquinha (IOC), Vikramjeet Singh (PSB), Forwards: Tushar Khandekar (BPCL), Shivendra Singh (Railways), Rajpal Singh (IOC), Tejbir Singh (PP), Adam Sinclair (TN), Arjun Halappa (IA), Hari Prasad (BPCL), Gurwinder Singh Chandi (AI), Officials
V. Baskaran (Chief Coach),Harendra Singh (Coach), Edward Alloysius, (G.K. Coach), Madukaran (SAI Coach), Ravi Kanakmedala, Physio, Gunasekharan (Physical Trainer).