Hockey India announced on Friday the 24-member Indian Men’s Hockey Team that would compete in the 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation – International Tournament, which will be held from July 25 to July 30 in Terrasa, Spain.
India will compete against England, the Netherlands, and hosts Spain in the four-nation tournament, which will act as a warm-up for the Indian squad before the much-anticipated Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023, which would be followed by the vital Hangzhou Asian Games. The team will be led by Harmanpreet Singh, an exceptional drag-flicker and defender, and vice-captained by Hardik Singh, a productive midfielder.
Goalkeeping duties will be shared by Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran and Krishan Bahadur Pathak, while defenders include Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, and Sanjay. Varun Kumar and Nilam Sanjeep Xess, who missed the FIH Pro League matches in Belgium, have also been nominated to the squad.
Meanwhile, aggressive and dynamic players such as Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, and Raj Kumar Pal will control the midfield. Sumit and Nilakanta Sharma have also returned to the squad after missing the FIH Pro League matches in Belgium.
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Pawan, Dilpreet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, and Karthi Selvam lead the offensive line. These skilled and agile forwards are capable of scoring vital goals, creating scoring opportunities, and applying unrelenting pressure on the opposing defense.