India's hockey coach Roelant Oltmans said Tuesday that skipper Sardar Singh had been replaced as captain for the Olympics as he backed the sport's one-time giants to continue their recent revival in Rio. After unveiling the 16-strong men and women's squads which will travel to Brazil, Oltmans said that goalkeeper Sreejesh Ravindran would lead the men's team under a new "rotational captaincy" programme.
Singh, who has been captain of the team for the last for years, was picked in the squad and Oltmans insisted he remained a key player.
But the move comes after he was accused in February of sexually harassing a woman who claims to have been his former girlfriend, accusations that Singh has strenuously denied.
"I have been here for a three and a half years now and what I observed is a fairly hierarchic structure and when there is only one captain for long then the players shy away from responsibility," said Oltmans.