Prabodh, Xalxo omitted

Evidently the mood in the camp was disconsolate with the exclusion of Tirkey, Xalxo and Lakra. “It was a tough call,” admitted Gurbux. “But after a long deliberation we ruled in favour of Namdhari’s Harpal Singh,” he added. The reason Harpal was chosen ahead of Xalxo, one of the quickest and strongest youngsters around, was that Harpal was a “bit more experienced”.

The 22-year-old Prabodh Tirkey of Indian Airlines has been impressing consistently for the past few years. Former internationals and Olympians who’ve worked with him have the highest regard for his abilities and work ethics. But Tirkey was given the boot because he was unfit, according to the officials. And they did not want to “aggravate” his back injury which he sustained during the junior World Cup in Rotterdam, Holland.

But nobody has an answer to why Prabodh was invited to participate in the camp if he was indeed unfit. He not only made it to the camp in Hyderabad but was also shortlisted among the 25 probables who then trained in Chennai.

While the exclusion of the Trikey, Lakra and Xalxo sticks out like a sore thumb, the others, especially midfielders, and the skipper picked themselves up. Dilip Tirkey, who returned from Holland on Friday evening, was named captain of the 18-member squad.

The team: Goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza, Bharat Chetri; Full-backs: Dilip Tirkey (captain), Kanwal Preet Singh, Harpal Singh; Half-backs: V S Vinaya, Vikram Pillai, Viren Rasquinha, Ignace Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, Arjun Halappa; Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Tushar Khandekar, V Raja, Prabhjot Singh, Adam Sinclair, Ravipal; Chief coach: Rajinder Singh Jr; Coach: Clarence Lobo; Goalkeeper coach: Charles Coronoleus; Manager: Harmeek Singh.