FIH Pro League: Harmanpreet Singh named captain as India announce 22-member squad for matches vs NZ, Spain

Bhubaneswar: Hockey India on Tuesday named the 22-member India men’s team for the upcoming double-header matches against Spain and New Zealand in the season opener of FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-2023 to be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The Indian team will be captained by Harmanpreet Singh and he will be ably assisted by the experienced midfielder Manpreet Singh. The team will also see some fresh faces in Mohd Raheel Mouseen, who was part of India’s victorious outing in the FIH Hockey 5’s earlier this year and S Karthi, who played his maiden tournament for India at the Asia Cup Jakarta. Talking about the team, chief coach Graham Reid said: “We have chosen an experienced squad to play the first two rounds of Pro League starting this weekend in Bhubaneswar. Given that, we also have two new players playing in the Pro League.” “Mohammed Raheel will make his debut in the 11-a-side format after strong performances including Leading Goal Scorer and Player of the Tournament at the FIH 5’s tournament in Lausanne in June and at the recent National Games in Rajkot. S. Karthi is also making a return after his impressive debut at the Asia Cup earlier this year. He is a strong bustling striker with a powerful shot at goal, who has a presence in the circle, important against the strong European and Oceania nations.” Reid also emphasized increasing the leadership skills of the group and thus choosing Harmanpreet to lead the side for these matches. “We are continuing to expand the leadership skills of the group with Harmanpreet Singh being selected as captain for these first four games,” Reid added. India squad Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess Midfielders: Sumit,Manpreet Singh (Vice-Captain), Hardik Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen Forwards: S. Karthi, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh Schedule 28 October: India vs New Zealand, 7 PM IST 30 October: India vs Spain, 7 PM IST 4 November: India vs New Zealand, 7 PM IST 6 November: India vs Spain, 7 PM IST All matches will be telecasted live on Star Sports Select 2 SD + HD Read all the  Latest News ****,  Trending News ****,  Cricket News ****,  Bollywood News ****,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook****,  Twitter and  Instagram****.