India, the two-time former silver medallists, will start their marketing campaign on July 31 towards Ghana
India, the two-time former silver medallists, will start their marketing campaign on July 31 towards Ghana
India on Monday named a full-strength 18-member senior males’s hockey squad for the Commonwealth Games with Manpreet Singh returning as captain and dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh as his deputy.
Hockey India (HI) had initially determined to ship a second-string crew to the CWG because of the brief turnaround time between the Birmingham occasion and the Hangzhou Asian Games, which is a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
However, with the Asian Games now postponed to subsequent yr owing to the COVID-19 scenario in China, HI determined to select a robust crew for the celebrated occasion, scheduled to start from July 28.
The Indian crew has been grouped in pool B together with England, Canada, Wales and Ghana.
The two-time former silver medallists will start their marketing campaign on July 31 towards Ghana.
Manpreet had led the Indian crew to a historic bronze medal on the Olympic Games in Tokyo final yr and he’ll take over the reins from Amit Rohidas, who was the captain for the FIH Pro League tour of Belgium and the Netherlands.
Harmanpreet, who has been named the deputy, emerged as the best aim scorer of the FIH Hockey Pro League.
“We have gone with a tried-and-tested team for the Commonwealth Games. These players have the experience of playing top teams in high pressure games in the FIH Pro League which was a good exposure for us ahead of the prestigious quadrennial event,” chief coach Graham Reid mentioned in a launch.
“After a brief break when we return home from Netherlands, we will resume camp in SAI, Bengaluru where we will analyze our performance against Belgium and Netherlands.
“While there are various takeaways from this outing in FIH Pro League, there absolutely are a number of areas that we will enhance upon forward of the Commonwealth Games.” The squad includes experienced goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Krishan B Pathak, who returns to the team after a brief injury break. Defenders Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh have been named in the team.
The midfield comprises Manpreet, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Nilakanta Sharma.
Seasoned strikers Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Abhishek will lead the charge in attack.
Goalkeeper Suraj Karkera and forwards Shilanand Lakra and Sukhjeet Singh, who were part of the FIH Pro League, are missing from the squad.
India had finished fourth at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Team:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak DEFENDERS: Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (VC), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (C), Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Nilakanta Sharma
Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek.
Source: www.thehindu.com
