In a tit-for-tat gesture, Hockey India (HI) on Tuesday dropped veteran goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza from the 18-member India squad for the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy for “failing to issue a written apology for his misconduct”.
Even though the 27-year-old’s “poor performance” has been cited as the main reason for his exclusion, it is reliably learnt that D’Souza’s disregard for HI’s orders was indeed the “actual cause”.
Bharat Chetri and PR Sreejesh have been named as the two goalkeepers for the six-nation tournament. Surprisingly, D’Souza, one of India’s most capped players, wasn’t even named in the list of standbys. Instead, Punjab’s Kamaldeep Singh was named as a reserve.
Mumbaikar D’Souza and four others — Arjun Halappa, Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh and Sardara Singh — were pulled up by the game’s national governing body after they attended an event organised by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), HI’s rival.
The quintet was show-caused by HI but after they skipped the hearing, they were told to apologise by August 14, the final day of the selection trials held in Bangalore.
Sources said that while Sandeep and Sardara toe HI’s line, D’Souza didn’t. And that’s why he’s been singled out. Halappa was ruled out due to injury, while Prabhjot’s poor fitness and performance in the trials led to his ouster. But yes, Prabhjot, too, stuck to his guns.
The Asian Champions Trophy will take place in Ordos, China, from September 3 with India opening their campaign against the hosts.
“During the selection trials, the performance of all the goalkeepers was OK. On any other day, Adrian would have been the automatic choice along with Bharat. Sreejesh is a bit inexperienced and needs lot of grooming. So, the circumstances indicate that Adrian has been dropped because he did not apologise, which he ideally should have,” a source told DNA.
The source added that the ‘errant’ players were clearly told that would be picked if and only if they apologised.
D’Souza, who has played than 100 matches for India, did not wish to comment.
Pargat Singh, the chairman of HI’s disciplinary committee, said D’Souza was dropped due to his performance (at the trials). “The selectors have chosen a team based on merit. I can’t say why they have chosen one player and not the other. But it has nothing to do with it (apology issue),” he said.
