After the injury to drag-flicker Jugraj Singh, the Indian hockey team’s search for an expert to fill in for him in time for the hectic season ahead has been a struggle. Two players - Len Ayyappa and Sandeep Singh - were called for trials at the ongoing camp for the Afro-Asian Games which will be held later this month in Hyderabad.The former had to come to the camp from Malaysia where he was the highest scorer in the league while Sandeep was the star of the Indian junior team’s triumph at the five-nation tournament in Poland in August, which also featured Pakistan. Other than the injured Jugraj, the duo are the only players in the country who use the drag-flick for taking penalty-corners and thus qualify as the only suitable alternatives.The issue, needless to say, needs to be tackled as quickly as possible, but Indian chief coach Rajinder Singh feels that the scarcity of good drag-flickers in the country is the problem. ‘‘After Jugraj, we have just Len and Sandeep. There is no other option. The cream of the country has been called for this camp and we will have to prepare under the limitations,’’ said Rajinder.Unfortunately, the training for Len and Sandeep have also not gone according to plan at the camp. Sandeep, the junior of the two, had to leave the camp a couple of days after it started due to an injury and the Indian chief coach is aware that he now has only Len for the Olympic qualifying tournament in March. Especially because at this stage, they cannot predict Jugraj’s return.‘‘There are flaws in Len’s footwork and he is quite slow at the moment, but if we work on him for a year, he should be ready,’’ Rajinder said.However, the Indian chief coach made no mention of Deedar Singh, who had been controversially selected for Champions Trophy in August. Rajinder had justified Deedar’s inclusion in the Asia Cup in September saying that he was the only available drag-flicker at the time. Deedar failed to score from the only chance he got in the tournament and was not considered for the AAG camp.
