Anup Kumar to lead India in Kabaddi World Cup

Mumbai, Sep 20 (PTI) Star raider Anup Kumar from Haryanawill lead India in next month’s Kabaddi World Cup to be heldin Ahmedabad. All-rounder Manjeet Chillar will be Anup’s deputy inthe 14-member squad for the tournament that is set to commenceon October 7 and will feature 12 teams, it was announced at amedia conference here today. The countries which will take part in the tournament areIran, South Korea, Bangladesh, USA, England, Australia,Poland, Thailand, Japan, Argentina, Kenya and hosts India. Balwan Singh is the head coach of the squad with EBaskaran as his deputy. "The training camp hosted in Ahmedabad involved rigoroustraining that helped us select the right set of players forthe Indian squad. Our aim is to have a balanced teamcomposition for the upcoming World Cup," said Balwan. "We are expecting the tournament to be more competitivethan ever this year. It will be the biggest challenge that theIndian team has faced in recent times." Cricket legend and captain of the 1983 World Cup winningteam, Kapil Dev, unveiled the team jersey. The cricket iconalso presented Anup his autographed, colour T-shirt that hehad worn in Australia when India played its first limitedovers contest Down Under. Asked by Anup how he handled pressure in tight situationsas a captain, Kapil said: "Players don’t feel pressure oncethey are involved with the team. Just enjoy the game andresults will come." "If a mistake is made during play, the captain shouldtake the blame and if the team did well he should credit theentire team for it," explained Kapil. The squad: Anup Kumar (captain, Haryana), Ajay Thakur(Himachal Pradesh) Deepak Hooda (Haryana), DharmarajCheralathan (Tamil Nadu), Jasvir Singh (Haryana), Kiran Parmar(Gujarat), Manjeet Chillar (vice-captain, Punjab), MohitChillar (Punjab), Nitin Tomar (Uttar Pradesh), Pardeep Narwal(Haryana), Rahul Chaudhari (Uttar Pradesh), Sandeep Narwal,Surender Nada Surjeet (all from Haryana). PTI SSR RSY SSC SSCBAS