Chetri to lead India

Thirty-year-old goalkeeper Bharat Chetri will lead the Indian hockey team during the tour of Australia from October 5 to November 12 for a four-nation nine-a-side super series and another tournament involving the hosts and arch-rivals Pakistan.

Chetri, who has 114 international caps to his credit, will have veteran midfielder Ignace Tirkey (33) as his deputy. Tirkey has 232 internationals to his name. The selection trials were held on September 26 and were attended by selectors BP Govinda, Syed Ali, Thoiba Singh and AB Subbaiah and government observer Dilip Tirkey. Chief selector Balbir Singh had given the trials a miss following a spat with Hockey India secretary general Narendra Batra. “God is great,” said a beaming Chetri. “I am happy that I have got a chance to lead India.”

Giving the captaincy role to Chetri is Indian chief coach Michael Nobbs’ idea of finding players with leadership qualities. “We need to realise that the captain is not the most important man in the team. It is the team that is most important. A skipper’s job is to mentor young leaders. Some seniors may retire after the Olympics. Hence, it is necessary for us to identify new leaders,” Nobbs said. “So, we may have a new captain for the Champions Challenge in South Africa next month. If there is a team full of leaders, it makes the coach’s job easier. And I expect all seniors to take up that responsibility. Bharat did that bit well in Ordos, so he gets a chance to lead the team. Rajpal did a good job as the skipper in China. Even as a normal player, I expect him to show good leadership qualities.”

SQUADS

Men’s: Bharat Chetri (captain), PR Sreejesh; Manjit Kullu, Rupinderpal Singh, VR Raghunath, Sandeep Singh. Ignace Tirkey (vice-captain), Gurbaj Singh, Vikas Sharma, Ignace Tirkey, Manpreet Singh, Vikram Pillay, Arjun Halappa, Sardar Singh; Danish Mujtaba, Ravi Pal Singh, Sarvanjit Singh, Rajpal Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki, SV Sunil, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Tushar Khandker, Bharat Chikara

Women’s: Yogita Bali, E Rajani; Joydeep Kaur, Preety Sunila Kiro, Jaspreet Kaur; Asunta Lakra Kirandeep Kaur, Ritu Rani, P Sushila Chanu, Mukta Prava Barla Deepika; Saba Anjum (captain), Jasjeet Kaur Handa (vice-captain), Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Rani, Soundarya Yendala, Rosalin Dung Dung