Dharamveer will get to join Rupinder in Indian hockey development squad

Nitin Sharma

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Chandigarh For the past six months, whenever Chandigarh lad Rupinder Pal Singh played for the senior Indian team, the youngster always missed the presence of another Chandigarh player in the Indian squad.

On Monday, as Hockey India named the Indian development team for the Tri-Nations Hockey Tournament to be held in Pakistan from April 9, Singh found a reason to be happy — the presence of fellow Chandigarh player Dharamveer Singh. Dharamveer was dropped from the Indian Senior team last year due to an injury and the duo is now hoping that they will once again shine for India.

“We two have played together at the junior level and when I made my debut in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in 2010, Dharamveer had played for the senior team for a year. But then he met with an injury and we did not play together even once for the senior team. Both of us supported each other a lot and after he got injured last year, I was a bit lonely in the dressing room. He has been a great support and now we are both back in the team. We will enjoy playing together and that too against Pakistan,” said Rupinder Pal

Singh who was also in the Indian team that won the London Olympics qualifier tournament.

The duo were regular faces in the Indian team in their junior days and both played for the Indian junior team in the 8-Nations tournaments in Malaysia and Singapore in 2008 where the Indian team defeated Pakistan. The Indian hockey team’s development team tour is Australian Coach Michael Noobs’ idea and the 18-member team will seek international exposure during the tour.

“I had surgery on my ankle after the Asian Games and I was out for eight-10 months. Earlier this year, I played in the Test series against SA and it helped me a lot to regain my confidence. The Indian senior team will be touring in May-June and I will aim for a spirited performance in this tour to cement my place in the national side once again,” said Dharamveer Singh, who was also a member of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Indian team.

While Rupinder Pal Singh will play for the first time against Pakistan at the senior level, Dharamveer had played against the arch rivals twice in the CWG and Asian Games. Dharamveer also scored a goal each during India’s win over Pakistan in the two events and is hopeful of repeating that performance.