Manpreet Singh to lead India men's hockey squad at Commonwealth Games

Hockey India, on Monday, announced a full-strength men’s squad for the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham.

Ace midfielder Manpreet Singh has been reinstated as the captain of the 18-member squad, while drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh will be his deputy. Defender Amit Rohidas captained the side during the recently concluded FIH Pro League, but Hockey India decided to give the reins of the team back to the 2020 Olympic Bronze-winning captain.

Hockey India had earlier decided to select a second-string side for the Commonwealth Games considering a very short break between the quadrennial event and the Asian Games to be held in China. However, since the critical COVID-19 situation in China led to the postponement of the Asian Games to next year , the federation decided to go with a full-strength squad. The Asian Games also act as a qualifier for the 2024 Olympics.

The team is currently in the Netherlands for the last leg of the FIH Pro League wherein India is placed third behind the Dutch team and Belgium. India lost to the Netherlands in shootouts on 18th June, which virtually threw them out of the title race.

In a statement released by Hockey India, Chief Coach Graham Reid said that the team will train at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) facility in Bengaluru for the multi-national event. “After a brief break when we return home from Netherlands, we will resume camp in SAI, Bengaluru where we will analyze our performance against 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.”

Goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak returns to the side after an injury break. Whereas, Goalkeeper Suraj Karkera and forwards Shilanand Lakra and Sukhjeet Singh, who were part of the FIH Pro League squad were left out.

Speaking about the team selection Reid said, “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 good exposure for us ahead of the prestigious quadrennial event.”

India had a strong outing at the Pro League except for a few hiccups and will be a strong contender for the CWG as well.

The team has been placed with England, Canada, Wales, and Ghana in Group B and will start their campaign against Ghana on 31st July.

India men’s squad for the CWG:

Goalkeepers: Sreejesh P.R., Krishan B Pathak

Defenders: Varun Kumar, Surendra 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

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