Saini set for a small-stage return

Hyderabad: Pakistani superstar and world record-holder hockey player Sohail Abbas will be playing for Hyderabad Sultans in the Premier Hockey League which starts at the Gacchibowli hockey complex here from January 13. Hyderabad Sultans is being led by national captain Dilip Tirkey.

That makes this team look rather strong, what with two more Pakistanis, goalkeeper Ahmed Alam, and former Pak skipper Wasim Ahmed also in fray. Abbas and Ahmed retired after the just-concluded Lahore Champions Trophy.

The teams were announced here today by Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) president K.P.S. Gill.

The surprise of surprises will be the return to the top class fold of Baljit Singh Saini, playing for Sher-e-Jalandhar, a team that also includes India team reject Baljit Singh Dhillon. And if that was not enough, Dhanraj Pillay, on whom rumours were around even Monday that he will skip the League, was named in the Maratha Warriors squad.

Jalandhar seems to be a resurrection team. Even Deepak Thakur seems to have recovered enough, suddenly, to be part of the squad.

The Viren Rasquinha-led Maratha Warriors, irionically, will have Kashif Jawwad of Pakistan to boot.

In comparison, the other teams somewhat dim.

Bangalore Hi-Fliers, led by Arjun Halappa, for example, have Muddassar Ali Khan from Pakistan and Kuhan Shanmuganathan of Malaysia. Isn?t a really explosive mix.

The Ignace Tirkey-led Chennai Veerans also has Spain?s Juan Pablo Escarre in its ranks.

In the first year of the League the IHF had maintained that it would itself decide on the composition of the players in each team to get a balance of power, so the competitiveness of the league comes to the fore.

Gill did not disclose the money that the foreign players will be getting.

The Premier League will be held here, while the tier II matches will be held in Lucknow.

THE SQUADS

Hyderabad Sultans: Dilip Tirkey (captian), S Rajasekhar, Inderjeet Singh Chadha, Ajitesh Rai, Harsha Vardhan, Chandan Singh, Suresh, Lazarus Barla, Sameer Dad, Cyril Ekka, Sreejesh (gk), Nitya Jayanand, Susan Topno, Ahmed Alam (gk, Pakistan), Sohail Abbas and Wasim Ahmed (Pakistan). Coach: Narendra Pal Singh.

Bangalore Hi-Fliers: Arjun Halappa (captain), Bharat Kumar Chhetri and Kuttappa (gks), Irshad Ali, Ajay Kumar, Chandrasekhar Xalco, V.S. Vinay, Len Aiyappa, Prabodh Tirkey, Pawal Lakra, Amar Aiyamma, Sabu Varkey, Sandeep Michael, Hari Prasad, Sunil Ekka, Tushar Khandekar, Muddassar Ali Khan (Pakistan) and Kuhan Shanmuganathan (Malaysia). Coach: Ramesh Prameswaran.

Sher-e-Jalandhar: Gagan Ajit Singh (captain), Maninder Singh and Kamaldeep Singh (gks), Kanwalpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh, Baljit Singh Saini, Prabhdeep Singh, Balwant Singh, Ajmer Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Daljit Singh Dhillon, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Didar Singh, Parminder Singh, Mohammed Sarwar (Pakistan) and Noor Azlan (Malaysia). Coach: Ramandeep Singh.

Maratha Warriors: Viren Rasquinha (captain), Adrian D?Souza and Baljit Singh (gks), Conroy Remedius, Jaswinder Singh, Sunil Yadav, Vijay Alphonso, Dhanraj Pillay, Girish Pimpale, Shivendra Singh, Devinder Kumar, Errol D?Silva, Hemant Ghete, Humza Mujtaba, Junaid Jada, Ali Raza, Mohammed Saqlain and Kashif Jawwad (Pakistan). Coach: Clarence Lobo.

Chennai Veerans: Ignace Tirkey (captain), Devesh Chauhan and Rajarajan (gks), William Xalco, Nitin Kumar, Jagath Jothi, Vivek Gupta, Bimal Lakra, Prabakaran, Jagan Senthil, Adam Sinclair, Venkatesh, Raja, Birender Lakra, Sandeep Singh, Dilawar Hussain (Pakistan) and Juan Pablo Escarre (Spain). Coach: Harender Singh.