Chennai: It’s been an unceremonious exit by all accounts. Former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, a veteran of 374 internationals was ignored from the list of 48 probables by the selection committee on Wednesday.

“I’m deeply shocked and surprised,” said the soft-spoken, controversy-free Tirkey, when Times of India contacted him on Wednesday. “It has happened for the first time in my life and I’m clueless why I’ve been dropped from the probables list,” said the defender from Mumbai, where he will be representing Air India in the ongoing Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup.

“So far, I’ve not received any call from them (selectors) telling me why I was not picked. If it was my fitness, why was I now told that when the selector was watching us during the Murugappa Cup in Chennai? There were selectors there, but nobody came to me pointing it out.

Maybe, the selectors might have ignored me because they are planning for the 2010 World Cup. That’s why they are focusing on grooming more youngsters. But, these are just my thoughts, I don’t know what is happening at this moment,” the 30-year-old said.