Veteran forward Arjun Halappa has been appointed captain of the Indian team for next month's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Malaysia. The 30-year-old Halappa will replace Rajpal Singh, who led India in last year's World Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra told PTI that the selectors decided to name Arjun Halappa as the captain of the Indian team as he is a senior player and commands the respect of his team-mates.On the conclusion of the first phase of the training camp at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi , Hockey India conducted the selection trials on April 4 and 5 to shortlist the probables for the championship to be played from May 5 to 15 at Ipoh.However, drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and Sardara Singh failed to find a place in the list of 45 probables. Hockey India secretary general said that the two players were ignored for the tournament as they failed to report for the national camp that started on March 15 because they were busy playing in the Belgium League. The final trials to choose the 18-member team for the tournament will be held on the 18th and 19th in New Delhi.India have won the prestigious tournament five times earlier. They were declared joint winners with South Korea last year when the final was abandoned due to rain.The seven-nation tournament will feature world champions Australia, Great Britain, South Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan, India and hosts Malaysia.