'Unfit' Pillay out of squad
for World Cup qualifier

Ace striker Dhanraj Pillay was not selected to the team to play the World Cup qualifier at Edinburgh, Scotland, later this month.

Pillay, who was suffering from a knee injury, missed two of the three coaching camps for the probables and that is the reason cited for his non-inclusion in the team, national coach Cedric D'Souza told reporters.

But the door is not closed for the mercurial forward and he could still be in contention for the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia next month if he can prove his physical fitness, said Indian Hockey Federation president K P S Gill.

Gill and D'Souza spoke to reporters after the team, to be led by Baljit Singh Dhillon, for the four-nation Castrol International Hockey Festival at Milton Keynes (July 7-10) followed by the World Cup Qualifier at Edinburgh, was announced.

At Milton Keynes, India will play against Canada on July 13, then Poland the following day and Bangladesh on July 16.

The team:
Goal Keepers: Devesh Chauhan and Jude Menezes.
Fullbacks: Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla and Arjun Halappa.
Halves: S Thirumalvalvan, Baljeet Singh Saini, R Ratha Krishnan and Prabhjot Singh.
Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Daljit Singh Dhillon, Bipin Fernandez, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Kanwalpreet Singh, Bimal Lakra, Samir Dad, Paramjit Singh and Brojen Singh.
Coach: Cedric D'Souza.
Asst Coach: C R Kumar.
Trainer: Saju Joseph.
Officials: Dr J P S Sandhu and Dr P S M Chandran.
Doctor: B M Parthasarthy.
Manager: N P Batra.
Asst Manager: Narinder Singh.