Sreejesh to lead in Champions Trophy

It will be India’s last tournament before the Rio Olympics and the move to rest Sardar is keeping in mind the decision to rest some of the seniors in order to keep them fresh for the quadrennial extravaganza. 

“It was pre-decided that Sardar will be rested for the Champions Trophy as he has been playing non-stop for quite some time. He played in the Azlan Shah where Sreejesh was rested. Here Sreejesh is leading the side and Sardar gets much-needed rest,” Hockey India president Narinder Batra told PTI. “It also means that the coach (Roelant Oltmans) can check out a few youngsters and analyse what’s the best possible combination we can have,” Batra added. 

SV Sunil will be Sreejesh’s deputy in the squad which also has seasoned first team players like VR Ragunath, Kothajit Singh, SK Uthappa, Akashdeep Singh to name a few. 

Defender Harmanpreet Singh finds himself retained in the squad, and is joined by his junior colleagues, Harjeet Singh and Goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya. Dahiya will be a back up to Sreejesh in the squad.