Dilip Tirkey captain for four-nation hockey

Ace defender and Olympian Dilip Tirkey will lead an 18-member Indian hockey squad in the double-leg four-nation tournament, to be held in Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia, from May 30 to June 9.

Other teams taking part in the tournament are hosts Australia, Olympic silver medallists South Korea and Malaysia.

Junior World Cup-winning captain Gagan Ajit Singh, who was overlooked for the senior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, makes a return to the side as does Bimal Lakra.

After a week-long coaching camp at the National stadium, Delhi, the team was selected by a committee comprising Aslam Sher Khan, Jalaluddin, Iqbaljit Singh, K Jothikumaran and coaches Rajinder Singh and N S Sodhi.

Captain of the senior World Cup team Baljit Singh Dhillon and ace centre-forward Dhanraj Pillay were not considered for selection as they were not among the probables.

The team:
Goalkeepers: Devesh Chauhan (IOC), Bharat Chetri (Centre of Excellence).
Defenders: Dilip Tirkey (captain - Indian Airlines), Dinesh Nayak (Tamil Nadu), Jugraj Singh (Punjab).
Halves: S.S. Gill (Chandigarh), Viren Rasquinha (IOC), Bimal Lakra, Prabodh Tirkey (Centre of Excellence), Vikram Pillay (Air India), Ignace Tirkey (Services).
Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Daljit Dhillon, Tejbir Singh (Punjab), Sameer Dad (AIr India), Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh (IOC) and Iqbal Singh (Railways).

Chief coach: Rajinder Singh; Assistant coach: N.S. Sodhi
Manager: S. P. Das.
Trainer: Edward Brient
Physiotherapist: Sampath Kumar.

The schedule:

Adelaide:
May 30: India vs Australia, S. Korea vs Malaysia.
May 31: Rest day.
June 1: India vs Malaysia, Australia vs S. Korea.
June 2: India vs South Korea, Australia vs Malaysia.

Melbourne:
June 5: India vs Malaysia, Australia vs S Korea.
June 6: India vs S Korea, Australia vs Malaysia.
June 7: Rest day
June 8: India vs Australia, S. Korea vs Malaysia
June 9: Match for the 3/4 places, and final.