India

Malaysian captain Kuhan Shanmuganathan and Pakistan's Mudassar Ali Khan would feature in Bangalore Hiflyers, the team from the city that would take part in the inaugural Premier Hockey League, commencing in Hyderabad on January 13.

Karnataka State Hockey Association Secretary K Krishnamurthy told PTI that the duo's drafting would strengthen the Bangalore team, already formidable in the forward-line.

Khan is a member of the current Pakistan team, said Krishnamurthy, who is the team's manager and also Joint Secretary of the Indian Hockey Federation.

Khan is one of the ten Pakistani players, including Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmed and Ahmad Alam, who would figure in the month-long competition that has received a boost with confirmed foreign participation.

Sources said the IHF is expected to formally announce the teams they would represent on January five.

On Bangalore HiFlyers, one of the five teams that's listed to play in Tier-I, Krishnamurthy said it's a reasonably good side with an outstanding forward line. He pointed out that all the four forwards in the present Indian team -- Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael, Tushar Khandekar and Hariprasad -- are part of the Bangalore outfit.

Meanwhile, KSHA has appointed Olympian Ashish Ballal to assist the team's coach Ramesh Parameshwaran. With inclusion of Shanmuganathan and Khan, the KSHA has left out M V Rama Rao and Susan Topno from the 18-member team. PTI

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