CHENNAI/LUCKNOW:It looks like Gurbaj Singh and his employers have kissed and made up after the controversial defender was included in the men’s team for the South Asian Games.
Initially banned for nine months after reports of creating disharmony within the squad during India’s World Hockey League (WHL) Semifinal campaign in Belgium, Hockey India lifted its own order in October after the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s directive that the ban was ‘illegal’.
He had a chance to be in Roelant Oltman’s squad for the WHL Final last December but the veteran Dutch left him out of the team. But this is a clear indication that the thinktank aren’t averse to including him in future tournaments.
While the 27-year-old isn’t emotional about coming back into the team after a gap of nine months, he is more than happy to wear the coveted jersey again. “It’s good to be back in the Indian team,” he says to Express. “I have lots of responsibility as one of the senior members of the side. So I will need to lead the boys on the right path and motivate them.”
Naturally, he wants to use this tournament to show that he is more than capable of performing for the national side. “My target has always been to do well for my country whenever I play and yes, I am aiming to make the team for Rio.”
Squad: Men: Goalkeepers: Vikas Dahiya, Pankaj Rajak; Defenders: Nilam Sandeep Xess, Chiyanna AB, Sukhmanjit Singh, Gaganpreet Singh, Ajitesh Roy (VC), Gurbaj Singh; Midfielders: Ajay Yadav, Manpreet Singh, Vikas Chaudhary, Pradhan Sommanna; Forwards: Mohd Umar, Anup Amarpal Walmiki, Mandeep Antil (C), PL Thimmanna, Gagandeep Singh, Ajit Kumar Pandey.
Women: Goalkeepers: Yogita Bali, Sonal Minz; Defenders: Jaspreet Kaur, Renuka Yadav, Gurjit Kaur, Hnialum Lal Ruat Feli, Sushila Pukhrambam, Ponnamma Narendra; Midfielders: Ritu Rani (C), Shyama Tirgam, Preeti Dubey, Sonika, Deepika (VC); Forwards: Rani, Jyoti Gupta, Neha Goyal, Punam Barla, Soundarya Yendala.
Unusual Look to men’s contingent
Chennai: The men’s hockey team for the upcoming South Asian Games has an unknown look to it. While it was known regulars would miss out – most are taking part in HIL — some in the 18-man squad don’t even feature in the core probables list on the Hockey India website. Reference website Wikipedia doesn’t recognise most names while the official dot.com — who maintain penpix — don’t have most.