Tirkey back in probables list

New Delhi: After being ignored initially, India’s finest defender Dilip Tirkey was among the 11 players who were on Friday included in the revised list of probables for major international tournaments for the next four years.

Facing severe criticism from the hockey fraternity for the omission of some senior players in the list of 48 probables keeping in mind the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the 2012 London Olympics, the ad-hoc selection committee reshuffled the list and shifted 11 players into the junior’s category to pave way for the veterans.

Apart from Tirkey, the other notable names who got a place in the probables’ list include midfielders Bimal Lakra, Ignace Tirkey and VS Vinay and forwards Deepak Thakur and Bharat Chhikara.

The players who were shifted to the juniors list include drag-flicker Diwakar Ram, Innocent Kullu, Manjeet Kullu, Ranjeet Singh, Birender Lakra Jr, Amardeep Ekka, Vikas Sharma, Vivek, Jagwant Singh, Pramod Kumar and Mandeep Antil.

Just 10 days back the fivemen selection committee, chaired by Ajit Pal Singh excluded the veterans from the list, although they had said the players can always make a comeback to the side if the coaches recommend their names. However, with uncertainity looming large over the men’s team coach’s appointment, the selectors said the reshuffle in the list was made after assessing their performance in the Guru Teg Bahadur tournament in Mumbai.

“We have shifted 11 players to the juniors list and in their place added 11 new names in the seniors’ list,” Ajit Pal Singh said. “There is scope for some more additions in the list,” he added. PTI