Friday, August 18 2006 10:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Experienced mid-fielder Ignace Tirkey makes a comeback to the Indian hockey team as an 18-member squad is announced here today (17 Aug, 2006) for the World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany, next month.

Ignace, who is out of action for several months because of injury, replaces Namdhari mid-fielder Ajmer Singh.

Young linkman Nitin Kumar is rewarded for his good showing in the six-nation junior tournament in Poland earlier this year and receives a call-up for the national team in place of Bimal Lakra, who skipped the World Cup preparatory camp citing domestic pre-occupations.

Besides the two changes, the whole team that won the bronze medal in the eight-nation Azlan Shah tournament remains unchanged for the World Cup to be held from September 6 to 17.

Squad: Goal-keepers: Adrian D'Souza, Bharat Kumar Chetri.

Full backs: Dilip Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh.

Mid-fielders: V S Vinay, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Nitin Kumar, Ignace Tirkey.

Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Tejbir Singh, Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Arjun Halappa, Hari Prasad.

Chief coach: V Baskaran, Coach: Harendra Singh, Physio: Ravi Kanakamedala, Trainer: Derek Knox, Manager: S P Das, Videographer: S Ramakrishnan.