FIH Pro Hockey League | Hockey India names 22-member squad for ties against England
Hockey India on Wednesday named the 22-member Indian Men's Hockey Team who will take on England in the upcoming FIH Men's Hockey Pro League double-header at the iconic Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The team will be captained by Amit Rohidas and vice captained by Harmanpreet Singh.
The 22-member squad includes goalkeepers PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, defenders Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, and Jugraj Singh.
Midfield will see Jaskaran Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Sumit, and Vivek Sagar Prasad while the forward line features Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Gursahibjit Singh, and Shilanand Lakra.Ā
Additionally, Suraj Karkera, Mandeep Mor, Dipsan Tirkey, Gurinder Singh, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay, Akashdeep Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Dilpreet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, and Simranjeet Singh have been named standbys.Ā
Speaking about the team, Chief Coach Graham Reid said, "It has been quite exciting to see how some of the younger players are grabbing the opportunity to play in the Pro League and have been showing great potential. It is good for us to have these options, we have been using this platform to try out different combinations. England has a talented squad and no doubt the matches this weekend will be quite exciting."
The Indian Team has thus far played eight matches in this season of FIH Hockey Pro League. The team is currently placed second in the pool table only behind Germany which has 17 points while India has 16 points. The Indian team has beaten South Africa at home (10-2, 10-2) while they won a game and lost a game each against France (5-0, 2-5) which was also held in South Africa. At home, They won a game and lost one to Spain (5-4, 3-5), and recently against Argentina they lost 2-2 (1-3 SO) and won 4-3 in a thrilling contest.Ā Ā