NEW DELHI: Dilip Tirkey, one of India’s finest defenders, was on Wednesday left out from the list of 48 hockey probables for major international tournaments for the next four years.

The five-man selection committee of the IOA ad-hoc committee headed by Ajit Pal Singh met on Wednesday and selected the probables with an eye on the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the 2012 London Olympics. Tirkey was left out as the selectors decided to focus on the “future” of Indian hockey.

Tirkey, whose last international appearance was at the Olympic qualifiers, had returned to the domestic circuit with the Muruguppa Cup hockey in Chennai last week after recovering from an ankle injury.

The selection committee, however, said all is not over for 30-year-old Tirkey and if the coaches recommend his name, they will consider bringing him back.

“It is not the final list. We will keep updating the list as we watch the performance of players at the domestic and international levels,” a selector told IANS.

“We have chosen the list keeping in mind the future of Indian hockey. We need players who can replace Tirkey at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. We have to give a chance to young players now. Dilip will not play that long.”

“It was not easy for us to leave out Dilip. But if the coaches recommend, we will definitely consider his name.”

Arjun Hallapa and Vikram Pillay, who were out of the side for a long time, were included in the probables list.

The probables were chosen based on their performances in various domestic as well as international competitions, including the Junior Asia Cup and the Azlan Shah tournament.
Ashok Kumar, Aslam Sher Khan, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillay are the other members of the selection committee.

The 48 probables:

Goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza (Air India), Baljeet Singh (IOC), Gurpreet Singh (AI), Shreejesh PR (IOB), Bharat Chetri (Kar).

Full-backs: William Xalxo (BPCL), Sandeep Singh (AI), V Raghunath (IOC), Diwakar Ram (ONGC), Innocent Kullu (Railways), Manjeet Kullu (Railways), Samir Baxla (Orissa), Tasveerjeet Singh (PSB).

Mid-fielders: Gurbaj Singhj (AI), Vikram Pillay (AI), Prabodh Tirkey (AI), Sardar Singh (Haryana), Ranjeet Singh (PNB), Birinder Lakra (SAIL), Ravi Pal Singh (BPCL), Amardeep Ekka (Orissa), Vikas Pillay (AI), Cheeyanna (AI), Vikas Sharma (PNB), Vivek (Railways), Irshad Ali (BPCL), Koushalender (Univ) Senthil (Tamil Nadu).

Forwards: Tushar Khandekar (BPCL), Shivendra Singh (AI), Rajpal Singh (IOC), Arjun Halappa (AI), Prabhjot Singh (IOC), Roshan Minz (IOC), Birinder Lakra (AI), Gurvinder Singh Chandi (PSB), Hari Prasad (BPCL), SV Sunil (Services), Gurvinder Singh (Namdhari), Jagwant Singh (ONGC), Pramod Kumar (ONGC), Sarvanjit Singh (PSB), Mandip Antil (ONGC), Osafur Rahman (Railways), Mazhar Kamal (MP), Mohd Taj (Railways), Aldin D’Souza (Mumbai), Sunil Sonkar (MP).