`Don’t want to become Anna’

He may be the best in the business, but 27-year-old Adrian D’Souza still finds himself out of the chosen few to represent India at the Asian Champions Trophy in China.
The goalie, who did exceedingly well at the selection trials held in Bengaluru, was disappointed at the treatment being meted out to him.

“Performance-wise, I do not think I failed anywhere. I don’t know on what basis the players were chosen. In fact, during the fitness test in Bengaluru, I stood first out of the 48 probables. I guess, it is a problem to finish first,” Adrian told this newspaper on the sidelines of an event here on Wednesday.

“I came to know about my exclusion in the morning through media reports.

I am definitely disappointed but I don’t want to become an Anna Hazare,” the 27-year-old added.

Adrian was part of the five players (the others being Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Singh, Sardara Singh and Prabhjot Singh) who had featured in an event of the World Series Hockey last month in Mumbai, which was not sanctioned by Hockey India.

“We received a showcause notice as we featured in a World Series Hockey programme without prior permission from Hockey India.

“I replied to the notice via email. I think the officials did not feel that the reply was satisfactory enough,” Adrian said.

Despite his exclusion from the team, Adrian believes that he did no wrong by participating at the World Series Hockey.

“I don’t there was any error on my part (by taking part in the league),” he said.