Shocking: IHF axe Gagan, Viren, Prabhjot

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) on Thursday announced a 20-member squad for the forthcoming Indo-Pak series and Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) on Thursday announced a 20-member squad for the forthcoming Indo-Pak series and Melbourne Commonwealth Games. It may be mentioned that out of these 20 players, 16 will go for the Commonwealth Games in March, while 18 will feature in the Pakistani leg of the Indo-Pak series.

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The squad excludes big names like Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Viren Rasquinha. But the most shocking thing about the selection has been that forward Deepak Thakur, despite some outstanding display during the Premier Hockey League, has been overlooked.

Meanwhile, the IHF has stuck to Adrian D'Souza and Bharat Chettri to man the goalpost, while the defence will have the likes of Kanwalpreet Singh, Dilip Tirkey and Harpal Singh. Drag-flicker Raghunath, who emerged top-scorer in the PHL Tier II, scoring 10 goals, has also been selected.

The midfield looks mediocre in the absence of seasoned Viren Rasquinha. Youngsters VS Vinaya and Prabhodh Tirkey will be doing the feeding along with experienced Vikram Pillay, Ignace Tirkey and Sandeep Singh.

Although the forward-line excludes big names, it still has Rajpal Singh, Arjun Halappa and Tushar Khandekar along with brothers Didar and Sardara Singh. Shivender Singh and Hari Prasad, who were impressive in the PHL, have also got a look-in. Adam Sinclair and comeback lad Tejbir Singh finish the forward line.

IHF boss KPS Gill justified the exclusion of Gagan, Prabhjot and Viren, saying that, "all of them are very good players and have been one of the best in 2003 but looking at their recent form, they have been made to sit out."

Elaborating further, he said: "These players are tremendously talented and we are going to bring them back in good shape for major tournaments in future. The federation also plans to provide special training to these players as they are valuable to us and we don't want to lose them."

When asked about the exclusion of in-form Deepak Thakur, Gill said: "He also falls under similar training programme of IHF."

The Federation retained Rajinder Singh Jr as chief coach and Clarence Lobo as assistant coach. Gill also appreciated the response PHL got in the city and indicated that Chandiarh may hosts it next year as well.

The probables will undergo a training camp at Sector-42 Hockey Stadium from Friday.

Tejbir makes comeback

Punjab player Tejbir Singh made a comeback to the national side after a gap of nearly two years. Tejbir, who impressed with his skills in the month long PHL said: "It was a great feeling to be back in the side and I would like to continue with the good work in the coming series as well."