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Journalism of Courage
Dilip Tirkey was today named captain of the Indian hockey team for the forthcoming Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad. Besides the regular 11 players in the Indian team that won the Asia Cup and played in the Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, midfielder Prabodh Tirkey and defender Harpal Singh have been included in the team. Though there are no big surprises, drag-flicker Len Ayyappa, goalkeeper Bharat Chettri and forward Arjun Halappa have also been recalled to the squad.
Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Baljit Saini have been rested by the IHF to utilise them for the tough months ahead.
The competition includes South Korea, South Africa and Malaysia, and Pakistan who will be looking for revenge for their Asia Cup loss. They have had few dropouts for the tournament too – missing will be star drag-flicker Sohail Abbas, goalkeeper Ahmed Alam, forwards Shabbir Ahmad and Kashif Jawad.
