Hockey India names 18-member Men’s squad for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

The Indian Men’s team after their FIH Hockey Pro League matches are now gearing up for the Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Therefore Hockey India have named an 18-member squad for the Commonwealth Games next month on the 29th.

India are grouped in Pool B along with England, Canada, Wales and Ghana and will begin their journey in the Commonwealth Games on 31st July with their opening match against Ghana.

India’s star midfielder Manpreet SIngh will be back with the armband. Manpreet Singh was the one who led this historic team to glory in the Tokyo Olympics where India broke the jinx and won the bronze medal. He will be hoping to go even further and win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. Supporting him India’s drag flick specialist Harmanpreet Singh will be vested with the vice captaincy role. He has been in sensational form as he currently leads the goalscoring in the FIh Hockey Pro League and will continue to pierce defences with his sensational drag flicks in Birmingham next month.

There will be the support of experienced custodian PR Sreejesh who has been a wall at the back for the Men in Blue. Experienced Krishan B Pathak also returns to the team after a injury hiatus. Then there are experienced defenders in Amit Rohidas who also forms the leadership group along with Harmanpreet and Manpreet in this team and will be looking to guide the youngsters in defence in maintaining their lines.

Also players like Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh have all been named in the team to man the defence. In midfield, captain Manpreet Singh will be engine of this side as he will look to be efficient during the counter attacks and quick breaks.He will have the able support of midfielders like Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Nilakanta Sharma.

In attack a lot will depend on Mandeep Singh who has shown he has it in him to lead the frontline and score goals against the best of the teams. Attackers like Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Abhishek will also look to play their part.

India finished fourth in their previous Commonwealth Games which happened in the Gold Coast. They must remember the disappointment and should strive to do much better than that in the upcoming edition.

Speaking about the team selection, Chief Coach Graham Reid said, “We have gone with a tried-and-tested team for the Commonwealth Games. These players have the experience of playing top teams in high pressure games in the FIH Pro League which was a good exposure for us ahead of the prestigious quadrennial event.”