Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and forward Shivendra Singh paid the prize for their poor show in the recent Hockey World League Round 3 in Rotterdam. The seasoned duo were excluded from the list of 48 probables announced by Hockey India on Tuesday, ahead of the crucial Asia Cup next month — a qualification event for next year’s World Cup.
“Both of them have been dropped purely on the basis of their performance. Sandeep’s penalty corner conversion rate hasn’t been impressive whereas Shivendra hasn’t looked sharp and fit enough,” said chief selector B.P. Govinda.
Young striker Yuvraj Walmiki, however, was the surprise omission. The 22-year-old from Mumbai has been in good form during the last few months and even though Govinda said “the youngster was injury prone”, the decision to leave him out was surprising. Walmiki had last featured in the senior team’s trip to Holland in April earlier this year, and had impressed with his shooting prowess.
“We have been including Yuvraj in the probables list till now but he hasn’t been able to make the cut for the main squad because of injuries,” said Govinda. “We have taken these things into account and decided it wasn’t the right time to call him back.”
Walmiki, on his part, said he was shocked at the news. “I am disappointed and shocked. I have been training hard and was hopeful of at least making it to the list of 48.”
Junior team members Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh (both forwards) and Gurjinder Singh (defender) have been asked to join the ongoing Under-21 camp, with an eye on the Junior World Cup at home later this year.
The probables will assemble in Bengaluru from July 16 for a one-month camp.
The Asia Cup will be held in Ipoh from August 24.
List of probables
Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh, P.T. Rao, Sreenivasa Rao Katharu, Nanak Singh, Naveen Kumar, Jagdeep Dayal, Abhinay Kumar Pandey; Defenders: V.R. Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh, Harbir Singh Sandhu, Amit Rohidas, Sampath Kumar Maylaram, Gagandeep Singh, Dayananda Chanamthabam, Narinder Pal Singh, Gurmail Singh; Midfielders: Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, M.B. Aiyappa, Kothajit Singh, Pardeep Mor, Vivek Dhar, Birendra Lakra, Jaspreet Singh, Simranjit Singh, Manjit Kullu, Vikas Pillay, Sumit
Forwards: S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Chinglensana Singh, Danish Mujtaba, S.K. Uthappa, Pradhan Sommanna, Nithin Thimmaiah, Dharamvir Singh, Akashdeep Singh, M.G. Poonacha, Prabhdeep Singh, P.L. Thimmanna, Sukhdev Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Jasjeet Singh, Nikin Thimmaiah, Harmanpreet Singh, Manjinder Singh, M.K. Muddappa, Gagandeep Singh