Pillay, Mukesh rested

NEW DELHI, April 2: The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has dropped nine players, including captain Dhanraj Pillay, for the double-leg four-n...

NEW DELHI, April 2: The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has dropped nine players, including captain Dhanraj Pillay, for the double-leg four-nation tournament to be held in Sydney and Melbourne, from April 9-19.

The 16-member team, led by right-half Baljit Singh Saini, has several players who were bound for the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament last month, before the hosts withdrew the invitation.

The IHF informed that Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Riaz and AB Subbaiah has been "rested" before the World Cup in May. In another significant move, the IHF has replaced manager MM Somaya with GA Siddiqui, and also brought in former coach Cedric D’ Souza as an expert. A three-day camp at the National Stadium in the Capital, precedes departure for Sydney on April 6.

The team: Goal-keepers: Jagdish Ponnappa (Mumbai), Jude Menezes (Mumbai); Full-backs: Dilip Tirkey (Indian Airlines), Anil Aldrin (Air-India), Dinesh Nayak (Tamil Nadu); Half-backs: Baljit Singh Saini (Punjab & Sind Bank), Thirumalvalavan(Tamil Nadu), Ramandeep Singh (Punjab), Sukhbir Singh Gill (Chandigarh); Forwards: Senthil (Tamil Nadu), Sabu Varkey (Mumbai), Devinder Kumar (Air-India), Rajesh Chauhan (Air-India), Samir Dad (Indian Airlines), Virender Singh (Indian AIrlines), Baljit Singh Chandi (Punjab & Sind Bank). Coaches: V Baskaran, CR Kumar. Manager: GA Siddiqui. Doctor: SA Cruz.