Dhanraj, Riaz among probables

The Indian Hockey Federation on Wednesday included Dhanraj Pillay and Mohammad Riaz in the probables' list for the first Afro-Asian Games camp, commencing at Ludhiana on September 7.

Pillay, who was not in the Indian squad for the World Cup qualifier, where India finished fifth, and the Azlan Shah tournament in Kuala Lumpur, gets another chance to make it to the team after opting out of preparatory camps on three occasions, the last being the Jammu camp for the Azlan Shah tournament, where he cited a threat to his life from the Pakistan-based guerrilla group Lashkar-e-Tayeba.

Mohammad Riaz too is back in contention after the Sydney Olympics, injury having kept him out of action for almost a year.

India are drawn in Pool A for the Afro-Asian Games tournament along with Japan, Egypt and Ghana. They open the competition with a match against Ghana on November 2, a day before the opening ceremony of the November 3 to 11 Games.

The probables:
Goalkeepers: Jude Menezes, Baljit Singh, Kamaldeep Singh.
Full backs: Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Anurag Raghuvanshi, Dinesh Nayak, Kushmeet Singh, Aftab Ahmed.
Half backs: Thirumalvalavan, Radhakrishnan, Baljeet Singh Saini, Paramjit Singh, Natarajan, Mohammad Riaz, Harmik Singh.
Forwards: Baljit Singh Dhillon, Daljit Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Dad, Dhanraj Pillay, Sabu Varkey, Amar Aiyamma, Chander Pal, Baljit Singh Chandi, Paramjit Singh, Anoop Anthony, Gurdeep Singh, Mahipal Singh.

Coach: Cedric D'Souza. Assistant coach: C.R. Kumar. Trainer: Saju Joseph. Doctor: Dr. Parthasarathy. Physio: Dr. Ramesh.