India's prospects at the upcoming Champions Trophy hockey tournament received a setback on Thursday following doubts about the participation of captain Dilip Tirkey.
The ace defender is suffering from "high fever and typhoid-like symptoms" for the past few days, sources in the Indian Hockey Federation said on Thursday.
It is also learnt that the IHF has asked young defender William Xalxo to leave for Chennai on Friday and join the team as a backup for Tirkey.
However, the sources said the IHF is not pressing the panic button as yet to announce a replacement for Tirkey as more than a week is there for the tournament to begin.
"We don't want to press the panic button now as the tournament is scheduled to begin on December 10," the source said, adding that a decision in this regard would be taken soon.
