New Delhi: Young penalty corner specialist Raghunath will replace injured drag-flicker Sandeep Singh in the Indian squad for the hockey World Cup, beginning in Germany on Wednesday.
Raghunath pipped two others -- Vikramjit Singh and Jugraj Singh -- who were in contention to fill up Sandeep's spot in the Indian team.
Indian Hockey Federation Secretary K Jothikumaran said Raghunath was preferred over the experienced Jugraj and Vikramjit because of his recent consistent performances.
"Raghunath has been selected as the replacement for Sandeep for the World Cup. The coaches preferred him over the other two because he played well in junior tournaments and South Asian Games. Also, he scored in the practice game against Japan (which India won 3-1) two days back," Jothikumaran said on Monday.
The Indian team received a jolt days before taking off for Germany for their World Cup campaign when Sandeep was shot in an accidental firing while travelling to Delhi in Kalka Shatabdi Express to join the rest of the national squad.
IHF selected three penalty corner specialists who were flown in to Germany and were fielded in some practice matches to assess their form and fitness.
Jothikumaran said FIH, the world body for the game, has been intimated about the inclusion of Raghunath in the Indian squad and the FIH, in turn, had confirmed this inclusion with the organisers of the event in Germany.
Asked whether Vikramjit and Jugraj would be returning to India, the IHF Secretary said "we are yet to decide on it since we were busy conveying Raghunath as the replacement for Sandeep to the FIH. This will be known later".
Raghunath had made a strong case for his selection with some solid performances in India's three practice matches, two against Belgium and one against Japan.
He was instrumental in India's 3-1 win on Sunday against Japan, opening the account for India in the early minutes with a superb penalty corner conversion.
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