Hockey India names 23-member Indian Men's Hockey Team for the Tour of Australia

Hockey India on Tuesday announced the 23-member Indian Men's Hockey Team for the upcoming tour of Australia. The tournament will begin on November 26th in Adelaide.

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However, Veteran drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh will lead India's 23-member squad for the tournament. The Indian Men's Hockey team will play five matches on the tour, which is important for the preparation of next year's FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup. Moreover, the FIH World Cup will be played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29. Meanwhile, Amit Rohidas has been made the vice-captain of the team. While, Gurjant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Rajkumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, and Sumit have been included in the midfield line-up for the tour.

On the other hand, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, and Nilam Sanjeep Xess will handle the defense. Earlier, Harmanpreet was the captain of the team in the recent double win over New Zealand in the FIH Pro League. The match against Spain was equal to 1-1. Moreover, Varun Kumar, who was ruled out of the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2022-23 matches against New Zealand and Spain at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, has returned to the squad.

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Speaking about the team, Indian Men's Hockey Chief Coach Graham Reid said, "The upcoming tour to Australia is a good opportunity for us to test ourselves against one of the top contenders at the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023. We have picked a solid line of experienced players who we believe can help us in getting the desired results. We have also infused the team with a blend of youngsters to give them exposure of top-level competition and test the depth of our squad."

Indian Men's Hockey Team squad:

Goalkeepers: 

• Krishan Bahadur Pathak
• Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran

Defenders: 

• Jarmanpreet Singh
• Surender Kumar
• Harmanpreet Singh (C)
• Amit Rohidas (V/C)
• Jugraj Singh
• Mandeep Mor
• Nilam Sanjeep Xess
• Varun Kumar

Midfielders:

• Sumit
• Manpreet Singh
• Hardik Singh
• Shamsher Singh
• Nilakanta Sharma
• Rajkumar Pal
• Mohd. Raheel Mouseen
• Akashdeep Singh
• Gurjant Singh

Forwards: 

• Mandeep Singh
• Abhishek
• Dilpreet Singh
• Sukhjeet Singh