Seniors to ‘rest’ as Hockey India bloods youngsters

Mumbai: Drag flicker Sandeep Singh, goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza and seasoned midfielder Vikram Pillay are some of the prominent names missing from the 18-man squad for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be played at Ipoh, Malaysia, from May 6.

Also missing from the squad are Diwakar Ram and Gurwinder Singh Chandi. Ram, who was named in the list of probables, did not attend the selection camp as he had to appear in his third-year Bachelor of Arts examinations. Chandi is injured.

Earlier, the selectors had dropped seniors Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur from the list of probables for this tournament. Rajpal Singh continues to remain the captain of the team that will open their campaign against China on May 6.

Following a disappointing show in the World Cup, held earlier in the year at New Delhi, the selectors and coaches have decided to infuse some fresh blood.

Sandeep has been replaced by Rupinder Pal Singh, who has made a decent reputation for himself while playing for Indian Oil in the domestic circuit.

Other young names included in the squad are Amit Prabhakar and Vikas Pillay, both of whom play for Air India. Veteran Prabodh Tirkey is another name to have made a comeback after being left out of the World Cup squad, along with Bharat Chetri, who will play second fiddle to PR Sreejesh instead of Adrian.

“Rupinder, Amit and Vikas have been doing very well for their domestic teams. Rupinder, who is more than six feet tall can use height to his advantage,” said the government observer of the Hockey India selection committee, Zafar Iqbal.

Prabhakar and Pillay have been a part of the South Asian Games squad and had enjoyed a good outing there, resulting in their selection.

Iqbal, however, asserted that none of the seniors were ‘dropped’ but were ‘rested’ as Azlan Shah does not give any ranking points. “We need to test the youngsters and give them an opportunity. We can use Azlan Shah to test them and if they perform well it gives us more bench strength for the future events like Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year,” Iqbal told DNA.

The squad was announced on Saturday after a two-day trial at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune ended on Friday.

Meanwhile, the camp will carry on till May 15, which will be attended by the core group of probables for the CWG and Asian Games. Former drag-flick specialist Jugraj Singh will be conducting a clinic for the drag-flickers, HI informed in a press release.

Squad: Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh (Indian Overseas Bank), Bharat Chetri (Canara Bank); Defenders: Sardar Singh (Haryana Police), Dhananjay Mahadik (Services), Amit Prabhakar (Air India), Rupinder Pal Singh (Indian Oil); Midfielders: Gurbaj Singh (Air India), Ravi Pal Singh (BPCL), Prabodh Tirkey (Air India), Bharat Chikara (Indian Oil), Vikas Pillay (Air India), Danish Mujtaba (UP); Forwards: Rajpal Singh (Capt) (Indian Oil), Tushar Khandker (BPCL), Shivendra Singh (Air India), Mandip Antil (ONGC), Arjun Halappa (Air India), Sarvanjit Singh (Punjab & Sind Bank); Standby: Jaswinder Singh (RCF) – Goalkeeper, Ajitesh Roy (Punjab National Bank), Vikas Sharma (Indian Oil), Bikas Toppo (ONGC)