Rajpal out of action for two months

Saurabh Duggal, Hindustan Times

India’s ace hockey forward, Rajpal Singh, who is currently with the national squad in Australia, will be out of action for the next two months. Rajpal was operated for appendicitis in Burnbury, Australia, on October 29. The operation was successful and he was discharged on October 31.

“After the match against Pakistan on October 29, I felt a severe pain on the right side of my stomach and had to rush to hospital. I was diagnosed with appendicitis,” said Rajpal from Perth. “During the course of the match, I was normal and it was only in the evening that I felt the pain,” he added.

Because of the operation, he had to miss the matches in the second leg of the Tri-nation series against Australia and Pakistan and will also miss the match against the Australia-A in Perth on Thursday.

“The doctor has advised me complete rest for the next four weeks and after that I can start light running. But it will take around two months to start proper training,” said Rajpal, who led the country to the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy triumph in China last month.

Rajpal will have to skip the Champions Challenge-I Cup to be held in South Africa from November 27. But he will be available for the next year’s Olympic in India in February.