Pillay stays away from Jammu camp

Ace forward Dhanraj Pillay will not be considered for selection to the Indian team for the Azlan Shah hockey tournament next month as he failed to report for the coaching camp, now on in Jammu, according to Indian Hockey Federation chief K P S Gill.

"Pillay has written to me expressing his inability to attend the camp as his mother is worried about his security there," Gill said in Delhi on Thursday.

Gill said the security arrangements in Jammu are very good and there is no need for the player to fear.

"But Pillay, who expressed happiness with the interest we have taken in his welfare, has chosen not to go and that is that," Gill added.

Pillay is among three top Indian sportsmen -- the other two being cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly - who are reportedly on the kidnap list of militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

Pillay had earlier requested that the camp be shifted to Bangalore but IHF decided to hold it at Jammu itself with adequate security.

The IHF chief informed that only one player -- Dinesh Nayak -- is yet to report for the camp, which began on July 9. Nayak, who is injured, has obtained the federation's permission to join the camp by Sunday.

Pillay was not selected to the team for the World Cup qualifiers in Edinburgh later this month as he did not attend two of the three camps that were held for probabhles.

An Indian team will participate in the Azlan Shah tournament, in Kuala Lumpur, from August 2 to 12.

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