Dilip Tirkey to lead Indian team in Azlan Shah hockey

Chennai, May 25 (UNI) Midfielders Bimal Lakra and Viren Rasquinha staged a comeback as ace defender Dilip Tirkey was today re-instated as captain of the 18-member Indian team for the eight-nation Azlan Shah Hockey tournament to be held in Kuala Lumpur from June 18 to 25.

The selectors ignored Olympians Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur and also axed five players -- goalkeeper Baljit Singh, defenders Jugraj Singh and William Xalxo, midfielder Sardar Singh and forward Adam Sinclair, who represented the country in the four-nation tournament held at Monchengladbach in Germany last month.

The team was announced by Selection Committee headed by Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) president K P S Gill during the second phase of the preparatory camp being held here.

The team : Goalkeepers: Adrian D'Souza, Bharat Kumar Chhetri Defenders: Dilip Tirkey (captain), Kanwalpreet Singh, Sandeep Singh Midfielders: V S Vinaya, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Viren Rasquinha, Ajmer Singh Forwards: Arjun Halappa, Hariprasad, Tejbir Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivender Singh, Rajpal Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh Chief Coach: V Bhaskaran Coach: Harinder Singh Physio: Ravi Kanakamedala MORE UNI GV-VV PDS DB1904