Sreejesh to lead India in Champions Trophy

The selection committee of the Indian men’s hockey team decided to rest skipper Sardar Singh and ace drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh from the 18-member national squad led by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh , which will take part in the FIH Champions Trophy in London from June 10-17.

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 on Tuesday.

“It also means that the coach ( Roelant Oltmans ) can check out a few youngsters and analyse what’s best possible combination we can have,” Batra added.