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INTRO: Ace goalkeeper will lead Indian hockey team at the Olympic Games; coach Oltmans says off-field issues affected former captain's on-field performances; Sushila Chanu named

women's captain In a surprise move on Tuesday, Hockey India replaced Sardar Singh with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh as captain of the men's team for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de

Janeiro on Tuesday. The women's team, as expected, will be led by defender Sushila Chanu as Ritu Rani failed to even find a place in the squad. HI president Narinder Batra named

defender Deepika and forward SV Sunil as vice-captains of the 18-member squads that also included two stand-bys. The biggest surprise, though, was removal of long-standing skipper Sardar. If

insiders are to be believed, then this has been done to avoid any unnecessary media scrutiny of India's most experienced campaigner in the wake of the sexual harassment charges

levelled by his former partner Ashpal Kaur – a British-Asian hockey player – for mistreating her. However, team's High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans called this move to relieve

Sardar from "excess responsibilities". "We felt that people need to take more responsibilities on the pitch and off the pitch. Sardar had way too much responsibilities to

tackle because of which he was not performing at the level that is expected of him," said the former Dutch star. Sardar has been leading Indian team since London Games in 2012, but his

graph fell in the last few months after his on-field performance dipped because of the off-field issues. While he was rested for the Champions Trophy in London – that too apparently for the

fear of facing any probe in UK – India produced their best-ever show by finishing runners-up in the tournament. But his return during the subsequent Valencia tournament failed to show any

desired results, winning just one match against minnows Ireland. Oltmans praised Sardar for taking the decision in a positive manner. "Sardar took the decision very sportingly. He

understands what's required from him," said Oltmans. When he was further asked if this decision to remove Sardar has anything to do with his off-field problems, Oltmans reply was

on the affirmative. "Of course those things did affect him," Oltmans did hint at legal issues that Sardar finds himself pertaining to a rape allegation. "For me, it is

important that we perform as a team. We tried this combination of players in Champions Trophy and it worked for us. This is the time to fine tune our processes and I have complete faith in

our processes. I believe in this group of players," added the coach. SREEJESH LEADER ON PAPER ONLY Though HI has named Sreejesh as replacement for Sardar, he would hardly be wearing the

captain's arm-band during India's campaign in Rio. India, in all probability, would be led on-field by either vice-captain Sunil or by different players in different matches. It

may sound little awkward but going by international hockey rules, there is hardly any chance for any goalkeeper across the nations to lead his team. "During the course of any

tournament, a team's captain could be cautioned and thus be asked to leave the field for a stipulated time if any of his player is found guilty of serious infringement or excessive

on-field misconduct. And keeping in mind that there is only one goalkeeper in almost every team, there is no way that any team management will risk its custodian by naming him or her as

captain. This is the reason why Sreejesh was not seen wearing captain's band during the recent London Champions Trophy," reasoned a senior HI official. The only consolation for

Sreejesh, however, will be that he will go down in the history as Indian team's official captain. UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR RANI On the other hand, HI president didn't even bother to

mention reasons for the dropping Ritu Rani during the event. Instead, defender Sushila was elevated as skipper of the team that has qualified for the Olympics after a wait of 36 years. It

was later told that Rani was dropped from the squad by the selectors due to poor form and attitude problems. dna had reported last week that Rani was sent back home by HI midway from the

camp in Bengaluru. Chanu's colleague in the backline, Deepika will assist her as the vice-captain during the Games. The team includes five defenders, five midfielders, five forwards and

only one goalkeeper in Savita. The midfield will be taken care by Renuka Llima Minz, Monika, Navjot Kaur and young Nikki Pradhan, while forward line consists of Rani Rampal, Poonam Rani,

Vandana Katariya, Anuradha Devi Thockchom and Preeti Dubey. SQUADS: Men: Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinderpal Singh, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, VR Raghunath, SK

Uthappa, PR Sreejesh (C), Danish Mujtaba, Devinder Walmiki, SV Sunil (VC), Akashdeep Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah Standbys: Pradeep Mor, Vikas Dahiya Women:

Navjot Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka, Monika, Nikki Pradhan, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Savita, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katarya, Deepika (VC), Namita Toppo, Renuka Yadav, Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu (C),

Rani Rampal, Preeti Dubey, Llima Minz Standbys: Hinalum Lal Ruat Feli, Rajani Etmarpu