Rajpal to captain India; Diwakar to replace Sandeep

The sources said that the decision to give Rajpal the captaincy was taken unanimously at the team’s dinner meeting on Friday night. Meanwhile, Sandeep Singh, in the eye of the storm, has been ruled out of the tournament because of a back injury.

“Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh has been medically ruled out for the FIH Men’s Champions Challenge I hockey Tournament to be played at Salta, Argentina from December 6-13,” Hockey India said in a statement. Diwakar Ram has been named as his replacement.
Earlier, at the meeting between players and Brasa, both the disgruntled players and the coach sorted out their differences and decided that from now on the Spaniard would pick the skipper based on a player’s performance. The players in turn agreed to give in writing that they won’t interfere in his coaching methods.

“As per the decisions taken in the dinner meeting, Rajpal Singh has been retained as captain for the Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina. Brasa also gave an undertaking to the players in the presence of Indian coaches that for the future tournaments, he would pick the captain based on performance. “In turn, the players had volunteered to give a signed letter in writing accepting the team meeting decisions and also Brasa’s coaching methods,” sources said.
Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the players have expressed satisfaction over Brasa’s coaching methods.