Prabodh Tirkey. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, March 6: Former national hockey team captain Prabodh Tirkey has alleged that he, along with many of his teammates, were not given the opportunity to represent Orissa at the recently concluded National Games held in Jharkhand. Frustrated, they instead donned the Jharkhand jersey at the Games.

Prabodh, a world-class defender, said: “No one asked us to play for Orissa. There were neither any letters nor any phone calls. That is why 11 of us from the state played for Jharkhand.”

“I was in Malaysia when the state team was selected. Other international players from the state, as well as many budding talents, were not included in the Orissa side,” he said. He accused hockey officials of neglecting them. “They selected five players from Haryana to represent Orissa,” said Prabodh.

Roshan Minz, another famed hockey player, echoed Prabodh. “We were not invited to play for Orissa. Why should we play for Jharkhand when we are every bit Oriya at heart?” he asked.

Refuting the allegations, Hockey Orissa secretary Pratap Satpathy said: “We had sent invitation letters to the organisations the players work for and they, in turn, had relieved them to represent Orissa during the National Games. We have proof.”

He added that according to rules, a player must either be a native of or a service holder of the state to represent it at such competitions. “Since they don’t fulfil any of these conditions in the case of Jharkhand, we are surprised they were allowed to represent that state,” Satpathy said. He alleged Prabodh might had agreed to play for Jharkhand since his father-in-law was manager of Jharkhand team.