Veteran international Dilip Tirkey said that playing with Prabodh Tirkey as captain would not affect his game and he was ready to play for India under any skipper.

Dilip made a return to the national side for the Champions Challenge tournament in Boom (Belgium) later this month. He had missed the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Malaysia where India, led by Prabodh, claimed the bronze medal.

Prabodh has been retained as captain for the six-nation tournament which also features England, New Zealand, Argentina, Belgium and Japan.

“Whether I am captain or not, I want to play for the country and give my best,” Dilip said. “But Prabodh was a very good captain.”

The former captain said he had no problem playing under a junior player. “I believe in learning from youngsters also. Whoever is captain, my job is to play well,” he said. Tirkey could not play in the tournament in Malaysia due to his contract in the Dutch league. “New players are performing very well. There is competition for places in the team which augurs well for Indian hockey,” he felt.

After the Champions Challenge (June 23 to July 1), India will have to play qualifiers for a place in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tirkey agreed with coach Joaquim Carvalho’s philosophy of an attacking game and said there was a need to change the style to compete on even terms with strong teams like Australia and the Netherlands.