New Delhi: Star striker Gagan Ajit Singh returned with a bang to lead the 18-member Indian squad while drag-flicker Jugraj Singh made a much-awaited comeback for four-nation invitational hockey tournament in Monchengladbach, Germany, starting April 15.
Ignace Tirkey, who was the captain in recent Melbourne Commonwealth Games and bilateral series against Pakistan, midfielder Viren Rasquinha, defender Harpal Singh, forwards Didar Singh and Deepak Thakur were the notable ommisions from the squad that performed miserably in Australia.
IHF secretary K Jothikumaran said Ignace and Harpal were not picked owing to their fitness problems while others might make a comeback in future tournaments.
"We have not dropped anybody. Ignace and Dilip Tirkey are injured while Harpal is down with chicken pox. Players like Deepak can be considered in future tournaments," he said after the team was announced.
Jothikumaran also justified the inclusions of Jugraj and Gagan Ajit saying both of them were playing well, of late.
"Jugraj has been very good in domestic tournaments while Gagan is playing well in the Dutch league and that is the reason behind picking them up," he said.
Team:
Goalkeepers: Bharat Chettri, Baljit Singh; Full Backs: Sandeep Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, William Xalxo, Jugraj Singh; Half-backs: Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Arjun Halappa, Sardara Singh, Ajmer Singh; Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Tejbir Singh, Hari Prasad, Adam Sinclair, Shivendra Singh and Gagan Ajit Singh.
Officials: V Baskaran (chief coach), Harendra Singh (coach), MR Negi (goalkeeping coach), Ravi Kanakamedala (physio), GM Srivastava (manager).
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