Rajpal gets the nod to lead the side ahead of coach Brasa’s choice of Prabhjot

DHANANJAY ROY

INDIA HAVE announced an 18-member squad for the World Cup and forward Rajpal Singh has been named captain of the side. But one is not sure whether coach Jose Brasa is happy with the decision. Sources claimed they were told by the chief coach that veteran forward Prabhjot Singh would be given the skipper’s arm band prior to the selection meeting. But a press release from Hockey India in the evening clearly stated that Rajpal had been retained captain.

There were no surprises as the selection committee opted to give all the senior members in the camp a shot at World Cup glory while keeping youngsters Mandeep Antil, Birendra Lakra and Vikas Sharma on the stand-by list.

India have opted to go with two goalkeepers, three defenders, six mid-fielders and seven forwards in the squad. Given the composition of the squad, a lot will depend on the experience of its strikers Rajpal, Prabhjot, Shivendra Singh, Deepak Thakur and Tushar Khandekar. Talented forward SV Sunil had been ruled out a couple of days ago due to injury, making the selectors’ job a little easier.

The announcement of the squad was made after the campers went through trials which was attended by selectors BP Govinda, Madhu Yadav, Sita Mehta, government nominees Ajitpal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, chief coach Jose Brasa and national coach Harendra Singh.

INDIAN SQUAD: (Goalkeepers): Adrian D’Souza, PR Sreejesh, Defenders: Sandeep Singh, Dhananjay Mahadik, Diwakar Ram; Midfielders: Gurbaz Singh, Sardara Singh, Bharat Chikkara,Arjun Halappa, Danish Mujtaba,Vikram Pillay

Forwards: Rajpal Singh (Capt), Shivender Singh,Tushar Khandekar, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Sarwanjit Singh.

PAK NAME SQUAD

MEANWHILE, PAKISTAN’S selection panel too announced an 18-man squad to compete in the World Cup.

The four-time world and three-time Olympic champions have not won a major title since their World Cup win in Australia in 1994. They finished eighth — their worst ever result — at the Beijing Olympics.

Pakistan had to participate in World Cup qualifying rounds in France, the only time they had to go through qualification because of their low rankings.

SQUAD: Nasir Ahmad and Salman Akbar ( goalkeepers), Zeeshan Ashraf, Sohail Abbas and Muhammad Rashid (full-backs), Md Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Md Imran, Fareed Ahmad and Sajjad Anwar (halves), Rehan Butt,Shakeel Abbasi,Abdul Haseem Khan, Md Zubair,Akhtar Ali, Omer Bhutta,Abbas Haider and Md Rizwan (forwards).