Hockey India on Tuesday named the 22-member Indian Men's Hockey 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.
India is scheduled to take on New Zealand when they begin their campaign on 28th October and in their second match, India will take on Spain on 30th October. On the following week, India will play their second tie against New Zealand on 4th November and play Spain on 6th November. All matches will be held at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, which will also host the FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup in January 2023.
The Indian team will be led by captain Harmanpreet Singh and vice-captain 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.
Indian Men's Team:
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