Bhubaneswar: In a major surprise, defender Birendra Lakra has been excluded from the 18-member Indian men’s squad announced by head coach Graham Reid here Friday for the Hockey Olympic Qualifiers at the Kalinga Stadium November 1 and 2. Meanwhile, the other Odia player Amit Rohidas has retained his place.
India will be playing against 22nd ranked Russia in the qualifiers. However, both the teams have met last July at the same venue during the FIH Series Finals with the hosts winning 10-0. India won the tournament.
Reid has chosen almost the same team that went for the tour of Belgium where India recorded wins in all their five games against the hosts and Spain. Apart from Lakra, Kothajit Singh is the only other player to have been excluded.
Speaking on Lakra’s exclusion – who have been the most consistent defender of the side for the last couple two-three years – head coach Graham Reid didn’t reveal much but reasoned the performance in the Belgium tour behind the selections.
“I don’t like using the term dropped because for me we are a team. For this particular 18, he hasn’t been selected. As far as I am concerned he is a fantastic player. What I did want to say is that we selected the players based on their performances in the Belgium tour and also with regards to having corner options,” said the Australian.
While the Indian team arrived in the city October 14, Lakra arrived a week early. Asked about whether the Odisha lad has taken up any injury, Reid sounded positive. “He isn’t injured at all. That had nothing to do with his exclusion,” said the former Australian coach.
“We have chosen a well balanced side with a number of good flexible options. We now need to focus on strategies against Russia, and ensure we are at our best when we step onto the field November 1 and 2.”
The squad: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Gurinder Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Amit Rohidas, Manpreet Singh (C), Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, SV Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Simranjeet Singh.
