Birender Lakra was named Hockey India’s player of the year for 2014 and is regarded as one of the most reliable defenders. (Source: Express file)
In a major setback, the Indian hockey team will be travelling to Rio for next month’s Olympics without one of its key defenders Birendra Lakra. It is reliably learnt that Lakra’s name does not feature in the 16-member squad for the Games, which will be officially announced in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Lakra’s exclusion means young defender Surender Kumar is set to be included in the squad along with drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh, who was named best young player at the Champions Trophy where India recorded its best-ever finish. India are likely to go with three penalty corner specialists, with VR Raghunath and Rupinderpal Singh being the other two. PR Sreejesh will be the only goalkeeper in the 16-member squad.
While there are no other major surprises, Lakra’s absence is likely to hurt India a lot. The 25-year-old suffered a ligament tear in his right knee during Ranchi Rays’ Hockey India League match against Dabang Mumbai in February. An ACL tear, experts say, takes at least four months to recover and Hockey India was hopeful Lakra would get fit in time for the Olympics. He did not play any further part in the HIL and, in March, was operated at Mumbai’s SportsMed facility under sports injury under sports injury expert Dr Anant Joshi. He had to miss the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and Champions Trophy while spending all his time at the camp in rehab. Lakra was finally back on turf last month and also played in the six-nation tournament that concluded last week but did not look fully fit. Consequently, the selectors and chief coach Roelant Oltmans decided not to risk aggravating his injury and hence has been kept out of the Rio-bound squad.
Lakra, who was named Hockey India’s player of the year for 2014, is regarded as one of the most assured and reliable defenders in the team at the moment. Together with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, he is responsible to ensure the backline keeps its shape.
Another unique ability he possesses is to launch counter-attacks. Considering he started his career as a forward, Lakra has natural attacking instincts and that reflects in the confidence with which he moves forward. Few Indian players have the ability to turn defence into attack with such ease as Lakra does.
“His performance was monitored closely at the six-nation tournament in Valencia but he did not look very comfortable. So it was decided not to risk him,” a source said.
Ritu Rani dropped
Women’s team captain Ritu Rani too has been omitted from the squad due to ‘poor fitness and bad attitude’. One of the most experienced women players, it is learnt that chief coach Neil Hawgood was not happy with Ritu’s conduct at the camp. The fact that she had stayed away from the camp for a considerable period and also missed tournaments owing to personal issues did not go well with the team management. However, her performance during the selection trials was the breaking point.
