CHENNAI: Sardar Singh's inclusion was one of the major talking points, as Hockey India announced an 18-member squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy in the Netherlands. Sardar's days looked numbered after he was omitted for April's Commonwealth Games, but new man Harendra Singh has handed a recall to the former captain.
The move seemingly hints at trying to address an issue that bogged the contingent at Gold Coast — an inexperienced spine. It's a sentiment that high-performance director David John echoed. "Sardar was never out of consideration, to begin with," he told Express. "I think the media always said that but we had to make changes. Finishing fourth at CWG wasn't enough and we felt we had to strengthen the midfield to give some support to Manpreet (Singh), who was outstanding. So Sardar comes in place of Sumit and we hope his experience will come in handy."
While HI's expectations are modest — to finish in the 3rd-4th bracket — it is going to be an important tournament for Sardar and others. It will double up as selection trials for the Asian Games in Jakarta in August-September. "Expectation is that the team play the semifinals (bronze medal playoff)... but the Champions Trophy will act as selection trials for the Asiad," John revealed. Such a move has been put in place because there isn't much turnaround time between the two as the event in the Netherlands ends on July 1 and the Asian Games begins on August 18.
Picking Sardar hasn't been the only departure from the earlier regime under Sjoerd Marijne. The Dutchmen had capped a lot of players in the short time he was in charge. This squad has only one new name, defender Jarmanpreet Singh, who excelled at the nationals. "Apart from excelling at the senior nationals, he was the best player out of the 48 in view during the trial matches held at SAI. These matches were held to pick the best players and Jarmanpreet was the best. So it was a bit of a no-brainer," John explained.
The Indian players have another incentive to try and do well. This will be the last ever Champions Trophy and India, having not won the prestigious title even once, will want to set right that record.
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh (C), Krishan Pathak; Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Surenkar Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Amit Rohidas; Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh (VC), Sardar Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad; Forwards: SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sumit Kumar (jr), Akashdeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh.
CT fixtures: June 23: Pakistan. June 24: Argentina. June 27: Australia. June 28: Belgium. June 30: Netherlands.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com