Rajpal replaces Sandeep as India hockey captain

Rajpal Singh on Friday replaced Sandeep Singh as the captain of a 21-member Indian hockey team for the FIH Men's Champions Challenge I tournament in Salta, Argentina from December 6 to 13.

Forward Rajpal will lead the Indian side in the eight-nation tournament, the winner of which will qualify for next year's elite Champions Trophy, a Hockey India release said.

The release did not, however, specify why Sandeep was being replaced by Rajpal for the important tournament.

India have been drawn in Pool A with Belgium, China and New Zealand, while Pool B consists of hosts Argentina, Canada, Pakistan and South Africa.

India will play their first group match against New Zealand on December 6 before taking on China (December 8) and Belgium (December 10).

The final will be played on December 13.

The Indian team will leave for Madrid on November 23 for a one-week training-cum-competition tour en-route to Salta.

India last played the Champions Challenge at Boom, Belgium in 2007 where they finished fourth.

They had won the inaugural edition of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 2002 and played in the Champions Trophy in Cologne, Germany, in 2003.

Team:

Goalkeepers: Adrian D'Souza, PR Sreejesh

Defenders: Sardar Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Bharat Ajitesh Roy, Dhananjay Mahadik, V Raghunath.

Midfielders: Tushar Khandekar, Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay, Roshan Minz, Danish Mujtaba, Vikas Sharma.

Forwards: Rajpal Singh (captain), Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sarwanjit Singh, Mandeep Antil, Prabhjot Singh.

Chief Coach: Jose Brasa