Pillay conspicuous by absence

MUMBAI, JULY 10. Dhanraj Pillay is a notable absentee from the Indian hockey camp for Azlan Shah Cup probables. The triple Olympian has not reported for the Jammu camp, following the Indian Hockey Federation's rejection of his request for permission to train individually at any venue except Jammu in view of the kidnap threat against him by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose hitlist contained names of notable Padmashri awardees.

``I have informed the IHF about my decision. Please ask them for details,'' was Dhanraj's terse reply when contacted on Monday, the first day of the Jammu camp. The 32-year-old Mumbai forward and a Padmashri awardee is under round-the-clock police protection for the last one and a half months, provided by the Mumbai police after information gained from four gangsters arrested in Thane.

The IHF president Mr. K.P.S. Gill had earlier clarified the federation's stand of going ahead with the Azlan Shah camp as scheduled at Jammu, putting to rest speculations of a venue switch. Dhanraj's last international game for India was the President's Cup final against Pakistan at Dhaka. He missed the three-nation tour due to a knee injury and was not among the probables for the World Cup Qualifiers.

He is one of the three seniors recalled to the national camp - Mukesh Kumar and Sabu Varkey being the other two. Striker Mukesh played in the Sydney Olympics Games, while in-form playmaker Varkey was on the Bangkok Asian Games gold-medal winning team. All three were among the six seniors subsequently 'rested' by the federation.

- Our Special Correspondent

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Chiranjeev in top 200
Next     : Karnataka retains team title