Tirkey, Ekka in place of Kanwalpreet and Xalxo

New Delhi, Apr 12 (UNI) Ace defender and former captain Dilip Tirkey and Services' Sunil Ekka have replaced unfit Kanwalpreet Singh and William Xalxo in the the Indian hockey team for the Four Nation tournament to be played at Monchelgladdach (Germany) from April 15 to 17.

Meanwhile, Tirkey, who was dropped from the squad for the series against Pakistan and then from Commonwealth Games due to ankle injury today asserted that he was ''fully fit'' adding that ''I have recovered from my injury and keenly looking forward to play for the country again''.

''I got the call to join the team so I am here,'' Tirkey said.

Three defenders -- Kanwalpreet, William Xalxo and Harpal Singh -- are on injured list and the selectors were left with no choice but to include Tirkey and Ekka to strengthen the defence.

Chief Coach Bhaskaran defended Tirkey's recall saying that the ace defender was fully fit and ''I will never take any injured player''.

According to Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary K Jothikumaran, William Xalxo was nursing an ankle injury and Kanwalpreet got injured during the camp, so ''we called Tirkey along with Sunil Ekka to replace them''.

''Bhaskaran has fully supported inclusion of Tirkey in the team,'' Jothikumaran said and described Tirkey an experienced campaigner who could overcome the lack of match practice in no time.

The 18-member Indian squad led by Gagan Ajit Singh is slated to leave here for Germany tonight.

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