Manpreet, Pathak ‘rested’ ahead of Pro League

Only a week back, chief coach Craig Fulton had declared he hadn’t seen Manpreet Singh move the way he did during the Hockey India League “for a long time”. On Thursday, the seniormost Indian hockey player was missing from the 33-member core group of probables for the FIH Pro League next month in Rourkela.

The 33-year old, who co-captained Ranchi Royals to the final of the HIL and was key to the team’s fortunes, was ‘rested’ ahead of the first two legs of the Pro League at home and in Australia. Speculations had been rife about his national duties with reports of the federation top brass not too keen on Manpreet, with 411 international caps, leapfrogging current HI president Dilip Tirkey’s record of 412 outings.

Officially, Fulton insisted the decision was part of workload management. “Post the Hero Hockey India League, we felt this was the right time to rotate the squad. We’ve rested a few senior players to manage workload while rewarding performances from players who’ve earned their opportunity. The Pro League legs in Rourkela and Hobart are an important part of the selection process as we move towards finalising the World Cup and Asian Games squad,” he said in a statement.

If reports of Manpreet’s name being excluded for processing Schengen Visa are true, his inclusion for both the Europe leg of the Pro League in June and the World Cup in August are also uncertain. Sources, however, say the decision has more to do with off-field issues than anything else with Krishan Bahadur Pathak, India’s No. 1 goalkeeper since the retirement of PR Sreejesh, also dropped for a similar reason and both likely to be back for the all-important Asian Games in September. Other names missing include Dilpreet Singh and Boby Singh Dhami, both key performers for winners Vedanta Kalinga Lancers in HIL.

The list: Goalkeepers: Pawan Malik, Suraj Karkera, Mohith HS, Princedeep Singh; defenders: Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Harmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Sumit, PC Boby, Yashdeep Siwach, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Amandeep Lakra; midfielders: Rajinder Singh, Manmeet Singh, Hardik Singh, Rabichandra Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Vishnu Kant Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Rosan Kujur; forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Angad Bir Singh, Uttam Singh, Selvam Karthi, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Maninder Singh.