New Delhi, December 23
Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh was today named the captain of the 18-member Indian squad which will compete at the FIH Men’s World Cup, which begins on January 13 in Odisha.
Defender Amit Rohidas will serve as his deputy.
Harmanpreet had also captained the team in the recent five-match series against Australia, which India lost 1-4.
Midfielder Manpreet Singh, who had led India to a historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, will feature as a player this time as coach Graham Reid sticks to his policy of handing the armband to different players. In the past, Rohidas has also led India.
The squad was selected after a two-day trial at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, in which 33 players were put to test. It features a good mix of experienced and young players who will strive to end India’s wait for a podium finish at the prestigious event.
Talking about the team selection, Reid said: “A home World Cup puts extra importance and extra pressure on this event like no other. Every country chooses the best team they believe is available to them at the time and tries to provide their team with the best preparation they can.”
“We have also tried to do both with the selection of our Indian World Cup team, choosing a mixture of experienced and younger exciting players who can provide something special,” he added.
India begin their campaign against Spain on January 13 at the newly-built Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. It would be followed by their second Pool D match against England. They will then move to Bhubaneswar to play their third pool match against Wales. — PTI
Squad
Krishan Bahadur Pathak and PR Sreejesh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh
Stand-bys: Rajkumar Pal and Jugraj Singh
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