Hockey India on Monday named a strong 24-member Indian Men’s Hockey Team for the next leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League in Europe, starting 26 May. In their previous outing in the prestigious League matches at home, India remained unbeaten against reigning World Champions Germany and Australia, which helped them top the points table.
In Europe, they will hope to continue their winning momentum as they take on the formidable Belgium and Great Britain in London, followed by matches against the Netherlands and Argentina in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
This will be the team’s first outing under newly-appointed Chief Coach Craig Fulton, while the team will continue to be led by ace drag-flicker and defender Harmanpreet Singh and vice captained by prolific midfielder Hardik Singh.
The team features goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak. He returns to the squad after missing the home matches due to his wedding. He will be joined by PR Sreejesh in the goalpost, while the defenders’ list includes five penalty corner specialists in Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, and Mandeep Mor.
Manpreet Singh, who was the cynosure of India’s midfield, will be seen in a new role, playing in India’s backline, along with Sumit and Gurinder Singh, who have also been named in the backline. The midfield will be led by Vice Captain Hardik Singh, along with Dilpreet Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, and Vivek Sagar Prasad.
India’s forward line sees the return of Simranjeet Singh, who last played for India at the Asia Cup in Jakarta but had to return home midway due to injury issues. He will be joined by a good mix of an experienced and young set of strikers like Abhishek, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, S Karthi, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, and Mandeep Singh.