Hockey Men's World Cup 2023: India announces the squad under the captaincy of Harmanpreet

Hockey India has announced the 18-member squad for the much-awaited FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 on Friday. This 18-member Indian hockey team will represent India in Odisha. The Indian team will begin their campaign on January 13 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Odisha.

Moreover, Harmanpreet Singh has been named as the captain, and Amit Rohidas as the vice-captain for the announced Indian hockey team. Apart from them, Manpreet Singh, who won the historic bronze medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics, was seen to be a part of the team this time. The 18 best players out of 33 players were included in the team after a formal two-day trial at the SAI Centre in Bangalore. The Indian squad for the Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 has a great mix of young and experienced players, which will strengthen the team in the tournament.

"The World Cup is the most important "Hockey Only" tournament there is. A home World Cup puts extra importance and extra pressure on this event like no other. Every country chooses the best team they believe is available to them at the time and tries to provide their team with the best preparation they can. We have also tried to do both with the selection of our Indian World Cup team, choosing a mixture of experienced and younger exciting players who can provide something special."

Chief Coach Graham Reid said

However, India will begin their World Cup campaign against Spain on 13th January in Rourkela followed by their second pool D match against England. They will move to Bhubaneswar to play their third pool match against Wales. In addition, the knockout stage will begin with crossover matches on 22nd and 23rd January and the Quarterfinals on 25th and Semifinals on 27th January. The Bronze Medal match and the Final will be held on 29th January.

Indian Squad:

Goalkeeper

1.    Krishan Bahadur Pathak 

2.    Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran 

Defender

3.    Jarmanpreet Singh 

4.    Surender Kumar 

5.    Harmanpreet Singh (Captain) 

6.    Varun Kumar 

7.    Amit Rohidas (Vice Captain) 

8.    Nilam Sanjeep Xess 

Midfielder

9.    Manpreet Singh 

10.    Hardik Singh 

11.    Nilakanta Sharma 

12.    Shamsher Singh 

13.    Vivek Sagar Prasad 

14.    Akashdeep Singh 

Forward 

15.    Mandeep Singh 

16.    Lalit Kumar Upadhyay 

17.    Abhishek 

18.    Sukhjeet Singh 

Alternate Players   

19.    Rajkumar Pal 

20.    Jugraj Singh