Indian squad for Hockey World League announced; Gurbaj and Thimmaiah miss out
Indian Hockey team's 18-man squad for the upcoming 3-match test series against Australia and the Hockey World League was announced on Wednesday. Striker Nikkin Thimmaiah missed out with a shoulder injury, while Gurbaj Singh, whose nine-month ban was recently lifted, also could not find a place as he was not part of the preliminary squad.
The 26-man preliminary squad, who have been practicing at the SAI Centre Bengaluru, have been reduced to 18, and coach Roelant Oltmans is pleased with the preparation his team is getting before the all important Hockey World League, which will be held in Raipur from November 27.
“The team has been together in the camp for quite a while and they are showing tremendous progress. The test series with Australia will help us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses before going into the Hero Hockey World League Finals. We are excited and there is high degree of positivity within the boys and that gives all of us a lot of confidence. We are confident of playing some competitive hockey and hope to produce the best result in the league,” Oltman told the Hockey India official website.
The Indian team is heading into the first Test match against Australia, which will be held at Chhattisgarh on November 19, after a 2-1 away series victory over a higher ranked New Zealand. The men in blue showed a lot of improvement during that tour and this upcoming series against the No.1 ranked team in the world, will provide India with good preparation ahead of the HWL.
Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, president of Hockey India, is excited about the Hockey World League and believes that the tournament will give them a good directionregarding where the team stands ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“The Hero Hockey World League final is going to be our first test for us enroute to the Rio Olympics next year. It will give us a good perspective to our position as we would be testing our best players against the world’s best, with all the teams in the Hero Hockey World League Finals having secured 2016 Olympic qualification. With a robust coaching staff that we have set up for the team I am confident that we will see some great hockey at display from our boys.”
India's 18-man squad for the Australia test series and World Hockey League -
Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh (Vice Captain), Harjot Singh
Defenders: Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, VR Raghunath, Jasjit Singh Kular, Rupinder Pal Singh
Midfielders: Sardar Singh (Captain), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Devinder Walmiki, Manpreet Singh, Dharamvir Singh, Danish Mujtaba
Forwards: SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Talwinder Singh
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