Non-inclusion of veterans Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup probables’ list does not mean end of their careers but the “break” will help them start afresh before the 2010 Commonwealth Games here, feels India hockey captain Rajpal Singh.
“I think they (Prabhjot and Deepak) have been given a break. They will be benefited from this and will start afresh in the future tournaments. We also have to play the events like Delhi Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in China later this year,” Rajpal told PTI .
Prabhjot and Deepak, who were dropped from the list of 45 probables for the 19th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup International hockey tournament in Malaysia, apparently paid for their bad performance in the hockey World Cup held here last month.
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Even head coach Jose Brasa and officials were also critical of their poor show in the high-profile tournament.
“It is the job of the selectors and Hockey India to pick a squad, I can’t comment on that. But I feel that those who are playing good, should be given a chance and that might be the reason behind including several youngsters into the probables’ list,” Rajpal said.
Rajpal insisted that their morale is not down despite a listless performance in the World Cup and said the boys are determined to prove a point in the tournament.
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“We will certainly take positives from the World Cup. Our morale is not down and we are determined to bounce back in the coming tournaments, including Azlan Shah,” he said.
“Expectations will be high as we are the defending champions there and we will be well prepared. Our initial target will be to reach the final,” he added.
Rajpal also supported the national selectors’ decision to pick 45 probables who would be shortlisted later.
“After the World Cup chief coach Jose Brasa has said that he did not have enough choice but now he has a bigger pool. He can now build a team as per his wish for Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games,” said Rajpal.
He was also not in favour of having three drag-flickers in the team as the strategy was a complete failure in the World Cup.
“Australia and the Netherlands had only one drag-flicker in their team and we have seen the results,” he said.