Sanjeev, Dhillon, Subbaiah recalled

Bangalore, Aug 5: The Indian Hockey Federation has given a fresh lease of life to left-inside Sanjeev Kumar, forward Baljit Singh Dhillon...

Bangalore, Aug 5: The Indian Hockey Federation has given a fresh lease of life to left-inside Sanjeev Kumar, forward Baljit Singh Dhillon and goalkeeper AB Subbaiah by including them in the National hockey team the Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held at Kuala Lumpur next month.

Mumbai defender Cheops D8217;Costa and Air-India forward Gagan Ajit Singh are the new two faces announced by the IHF president KPS Gill here on Wednesday.

In a team, in which the nucleus of the forward-line is the same as that of the World Cup squad, Sabu Varkey, Mukesh Kumar and Dhanraj Pillay continue to get the selectors8217; favour. The last mentioned has been retained as the skipper of the side.

Also announcing the team which will play the four-nation Panasonic Cup at Hamburg Germany later this month, Gill said that, 8220;the players were basically tested regarding their fitness.8221;

Allaying all doubts about the communication gap between the selectors and the coach, Gill said, that MK Kaushik chief coach had been consultedbefore finalising the team.

8220;In fact, Sandeep Somesh voted as the best midfielder at the MCC tourney has not been included in the team, because he did not fit into the coach8217;s scheme of things.

Gill also said that the coaching team of Kaushik and his assistants Ramesh Parameswaran and Charles Cornelius will not be changed till the Bangkok Asian Games in December. He also announced the IHF8217;s decision to include Sebastian of SAI, Bangalore as the physio of the team, while saying that the decision on team doctor has been deferred.

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Gill also confirmed that no player in the team was unfit8217;.

Regarding the 5-a-side tournament, which the IHF had planned before the Commonwealth Games, Gill said that 8220;many felt that the time duration to run such a tournament was too short. Therefore we decided to have it before the Asian Games.8221;

THE TEAMS

For Commonwealth Games

Goalkeepers: AB Subbaiah IA, Jude Menezes Mumbai; Halfs and Backs: Dilip Kumar Tirkey IA, Lazarus Barla IA, CheopsD8217;Costa Mumbai, Baljit Singh Saini PSB, Mohammed Riaz IA, Ramandeep Singh Pjb, Thirumalvalavan TN; Forwards: Mukesh Kumar IA, Sabu Varkey Mumbai, Dhanraj Pillay Mumbai-Captain, Sanjeev Kumar PSB, Gagan Ajit Singh A-I, L Prabhakar TN, Baljit Singh Dhillon Pjb Stand Byes: Ambuj Srivastav Rlys, Rajinder Singh Excise, Shanmugam Kar, Cyprian Aind Ser. Coaches: MK Kaushik, Ramesh Parameswaran, Charles Cornelius. Physio: Sebastian. Manager and Doctor: Yet to be named.

For Hamburg tournament

Goalkeepers: Jagadish Ponnappa IA, BC Poonacha Excise; Halfs and Backs: Cornelius D8217;Costa A-I, Dinesh Naik TN, Anurag Raghuvanshi A-I Academy, Rahul Singh Excise, Navsher Singh Rlys, Radhakrishnan TN, Jagmohan Singh Rlys, Bimal Lakra Centre of Excellence. Forwards: Virinder Singh IA, Kamal Horo Ser, Ajinder Pal Singh Rlys, Daljit Singh Dhillon Pjb, YS Rawat IA. Coach: CR Kumar.