Announcing an 18-member team on Tuesday, the president of the Indian Hockey Federation KPS Gill said, ``the very fact that Dhillon was chosen to play for the World XI clinched the issue in his favour ahead of many other seniors.''

The ``seniors'' include deposed captain of the Bangkok Asian Games gold medal winning team, Dhanraj Pillay, who at long last has found favour with the IHF supremo.

But missing in the list is skipper of the national squad after Pillay, mid-fielder Mohammed Riaz, who is yet to recover from a bout of viral fever. Also missing the tournament would be Olympian goalkeeper Edward Aloysius due to a toe-nail injury.

``Riaz reported eight days late for the tournament. We kept him in Bangalore more for his physical reconditioning rather than anything else,'' Gill explained.

``Riaz will continue to stay in Bangalore for a full physical reconditioning course even after Nov 18,'' the IHF president, also the chairman of the selection committee, added. ``Aloysius was ruled out, as we think these two are very important players in our preparation for the Sydney Olympics,'' Gill said.

Gill also announced that the secretary general of the IHF K Jothikumaran will accompany the team as manager. ``We are trying to minimise our costs,'' Gill said. Jothikumaran will attend the Asian Hockey Federation conference during the championship, Gill added.

The team was picked after a two-day selection trials at the Akkithimmanahalli Stadium. It will continue to train at the SAI (Southern) Centre till November 14 before leaving for Kuala Lumpur.

The team
Goalkeepers: Jude Menezes (Mum), Prasad (Ser). Defenders: Dilip Tirkey (IA), Anurag Raghuvanshi (UP), Dinesh Nayak (TN). Mid-fielders: Baljit Singh Chandi, Baljit Singh Saini (both PSB), SS Gill (BPCL), Shamsuz Zoha (UP), Thirumalvalavan (TN), Ramandeep Singh (Punjab), Bimal Lakra (CoE). Forwards: Jagan Senthil (TN), Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur (both AI), Dhanraj Pillay (Mum), Sameer Dad (IA), Baljit Singh Dhillon (Punjab -- Captain).Coach: Vasudevan Baskaran (Rlys); Assistant coach: Yet to be named. Manager: K Jothikumaran (TN).