Mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay's hopes of playing in his fourth Olympics are in the balance following the Indian Hockey Federation's decision to leave him out of an 18-member 'experimental' team for a four-nation tournament in Japan next week, and also a fitness camp for 12 other players in Barog, Himachal Pradesh.

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IHF President K P S Gill said the probables for Olympics would be picked from these 30 players but added that one or two players could be considered from outside this pool of 30.

Pillay has been overlooked since January when he injured his knee while playing in the Azlan Shah tournament. Without him, the team finished fourth at the Olympic Qualifier in Madrid and had a poor outing in the twin four-nation tournaments in Canberra and Sydney, losing heavily to Australia in the first leg and suffering losses to lowly teams like South Africa and Malaysia, who has not qualified for the Olympics.

Do you think the former India captain, who is capable of changing the face of a game with one move should be in the team for the Athens Games?

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