Expansion
India on Monday announced an 18-member senior men’s hockey team for the Commonwealth Games (Commonwealth Games 2022) to be held in Birmingham. Manpreet Singh has returned as captain for the game, while drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh has been named as the vice-captain.
Hockey India had initially decided to send a second-rate team to the Commonwealth Games due to the short time between the Birmingham Games and the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifier Hangzhou Asian Games. The Asian Games were postponed due to Kovid, after which Hockey India decided to choose a strong team for this prestigious competition starting from 28 July. The Indian team is placed in Pool B along with England, Canada, Wales and Ghana. India finished fourth in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Manpreet led the Indian team that won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year after 41 years. He will replace Amit Rohidas. Amit captained India in FIH Pro League matches against Belgium and Netherlands.
At the same time, Harmanpreet, who was made the vice-captain, has been the player to score 18 goals in the FIH Hockey Pro League. The two-time former silver medalist Indian team will start their campaign against Ghana on July 31.
Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and returning from injury Krishna Bahadur Pathak have been included in the squad. The responsibility of defense will be on Varun Kumar, Surendra Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh. Manpreet, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Neelkant Sharma have got place in the midfield.
Four players not in the team
Goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, forward Shilanand Lakra and Sukhjit Singh were part of the squad in the FIH Pro League but have not been included here. Drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh is not in the team due to injury. India’s head coach Graham Reid has said that we have selected a tested team for the Commonwealth Games. These players have good experience of playing against top teams.
- Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh and Krishna Bahadur Pathak
- Defender: Varun Kumar, Surendra Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh
- Midfielder: Manpreet Singh (Captain), Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Neelkant Sharma
- Forward: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Abhishek
- July 31: India vs Ghana
- 01 August: India vs England
- 03 August: India vs Canada
- 04 August: India vs Wales
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