Injured Chandi out of PHL

The Hyderabad Sultans receive a setback as experienced midfielder Baljit Singh Chandi withdraws following a hamstring injury in his leg.

The Hyderabad Sultans received a setback on Wednesday when experienced midfielder Baljit Singh Chandi decided to go back to Chandigarh because of a hamstring injury in his left leg.

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Chandi, who had suffered the injury recently, aggravated it during Sultans’ opening day encounter with Chennai Veerans. He has been advised rest for two months and will miss the Chandigarh leg of the Premier Hockey League also.

The Sultans have already sought a replacement for him and are waiting for the nod from the organizers.

“It is a big blow for us because Chandi’s experience would have helped us a lot in the upcoming matches. We needed an experienced player who could hold-on to the ball and feed the forwards. Chandi himself came up and told that he would like to go back so that the team could get another player. We are trying to find a suitable replacement,” coach Mukesh Kumar told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.

The Sultans would also be without key midfielder Vivek Gupta in their next match. Gupta slipped and fell on his left shoulder and has been advised rest for 10 days. Coach Mukesh Kumar and manager Satyanarayana are expected that he would be free for their next match on January 16.