India identify full-strength males’s squad for CWG, Manpreet returns as captain

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 group to the CWG as a result of 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 12 months owing to the COVID-19 state of affairs in China, HI determined to choose a robust group for the distinguished occasion, scheduled to start from July 28.

The Indian group 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 in opposition to Ghana.

Manpreet had led the Indian group to a historic bronze medal on the Olympic Games in Tokyo final 12 months 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 purpose 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 quick break once we return dwelling from Netherlands, we are going to resume camp in SAI, Bengaluru the place we are going to analyze our efficiency in opposition to Belgium and Netherlands.

“While there are many takeaways from this outing in FIH Pro League, there surely are a few areas that we can improve upon ahead of the Commonwealth Games.” The squad consists of skilled goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Krishan B Pathak, who returns to the group after a quick harm break. Defenders Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh have been named within the group.

The midfield contains 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 cost in assault.

Goalkeeper Suraj Karkera and forwards Shilanand Lakra and Sukhjeet Singh, who have been a part of the FIH Pro League, are lacking from the squad.

India had completed fourth on the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

Team:

GOALKEPERS: 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.