Ace striker Dhanraj Pillay's hopes of playing in the Olympics suffered a jolt on Sunday with the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) virtually ruling him out of the mega event at Athens in August.
Pillay was not picked in an 18-member "experimental" side to play in a four-nation tournament in Japan, starting on May 13, and was not called to join a fitness camp for 12 other players at Barog.
IHF chief K P S Gill said the probables for Olympics would be picked from these 30 players but added that one or two players could be considered from outside this pool of 30.
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Gill also said that the team for Olympics would be announced sometime in July after a four-nation tournament in Holland.
Gill did not give any direct reply when asked about the chances of Pillay making it to the squad for the Olympics.
"We can only take 16 players to Olympics. So we have to ensure that one who has the potential to play the entire duration of 70 minutes of tough games under extreme pressure are selected," he said.
Two more senior players, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Baljit Singh Saini also found themselves excluded from the pool of 30.
IHF's policy of playing musical chair in team selection has seen the performance of the side dipping in sharp contrast to last year when a balanced side had fetched the country victories in important international tournaments including the Asia Cup.
But Gill was unfazed by the recent poor performances.
"In the past when we played well in one tournament, in the next tournament it was just the opposite. So don't read too much into this," he said.
"We are doing all these (experimentations) keeping in mind the Olympics."
Before the Athens Games, the eight-time Olympic champions would be playing a four-nation tournament in Holland from June 25 to July 5. They may also go to Germany for a similar tournament and a training programme in the lead-up to the quadrennial extravaganza.
"We are looking for a place in Germany where our team can stay and continue training. The Germany Hockey Federation has also proposed a four-nation tournament but that has not been finalised yet," Gill said.
Besides the hosts and India, the Holland meet features Germany and Pakistan. If the Germany event takes place, Germany, England and France would be India's opponents.
A 16-member team along with eight stand-byes would be picked for the Olympics after the Holland meet.
The experimental side, announced by Gill, will leave for Japan on May 12 and would play matches against Korea and China besides the hosts.
"Japan and Korea would be sending their full-strength teams to the competition," Gill said.
The IHF chief also hailed the performance of the Indian juniors in the Asia Cup in Pakistan and announced a "special award" for coach Harendra Singh who would also accompany the team to Japan.
"At the moment we are the winners of the Asia Cup in all the categories - under-16, u-18, junior and senior. But now the most important thing is to try and do well in Olympics," Gill said.
Team for Japan tournament:
Adrian D'Souza, Suraj Kantha (both goalkeepers), William Xalxo, Sandeep Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh (fullbacks), V S Vinay, Vivek Gupta, Gurbaj Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Girish Pimpale (midfielders), Hari Prasad, Inderjeet Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Adam Sinclair, Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael, Birender Lakra (forwards).
Harender Singh (Chief Coach), Clarence Lobo (Coach), Dr Saju Joseph (Trainer).
List of players for Barog fitness camp: Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh (both goalkeepers), Dilip Tirkey, Harpal Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh (fullbacks), Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Sunil Yadav (midfielders), Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh (forwards).
Rajinder Singh (Chief Coach), M R Negi (GK coach), Sampath Kumar (Trainer).