Struggling Rani Rampal misses out on World Cup berth

Rani Rampal

Talismanic striker and former skipper Rani Rampal, who is yet to regain full fitness, did not find a place in the Indian team for the next month's FIH World Cup as Hockey India announced an 18-member squad on Tuesday.

Rani, who led the Indian women to the historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, was picked for the recent FIH Pro League matches in Belgium and Netherlands after recovering from a hamstring injury.

She didn't feature in the first four games of the side's European leg of Pro League, raising doubts about her full fitness. Eventually it cost her a place in the World Cup-bound squad.

Also Read: Indian Junior women's hockey team hold The Netherlands at 2-2 in U-23 five-nation tournament

Besides Rani's exclusion, there are no further surprises as India went for a tried and tested squad, which has been playing together for a long time.

Defenders Ishika Chaudhary and Akshata Abaso Dhekale, midfielder Baljeet Kaur and striker Sangita Kumari also missed out as the team management reposed faith in the core group of players.

The World Cup will be jointly co-hosted by The Netherlands and Spain from July 1 to 17.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever