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| FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023: India squad announced, Harmanpreet Singh named captain | | | agencies
NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Defender Harmanpreet Singh was on Friday named the captain of the 18-member Indian squad which will compete at the FIH men's Hockey World Cup, commencing on January 13 in Odisha.
Defender Amit Rohidas will serve as Harmanpreet's deputy.
Harmanpreet had also captained the side in the recent series against Australia, where the side fought hard before losing the five-match rubber 1-4.
Midfielder Manpreet Singh had led the team at the Tokyo Olympics where India won a historic bronze medal but he will feature in the team as a player this time as coach Graham Reid has handed the captain's band to different players over a period of time. Reid's endeavour has been to create leaders from the senior group.
In the past, Amit Rohidas has also led India.
The World Cup squad was selected after two-day trials in SAI Centre in Bengaluru where 33 players were put to test. It features a good mix of experienced and young players who will strive to end India's wait for a podium finish at the prestigious event.
Gurjant Singh and Dilpreet Singh, who were part of the Tokyo Olympic squad, are not part of the main team but will be there with World Cup team as standbys. "The team is purely picked on the basis of current form and performance of players. There was no other criteria," a Hockey India selector told PTI. Krishan B Pathak and PR Sreejesh, who will be playing his fourth World Cup - his third on home soil, have been chosen as goalkeepers. Captain Harmapreet will spearhead the team's defence along with vice-captain Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh and Nilam Sanjeep Xess.
The midfield will see the return of young prodigy Vivek Sagar Prasad, who missed the recent tour of Australia as well as the FIH Hockey Pro League due to an ankle injury.
He will be joined by Manpreet, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh and the experienced Akashdeep Singh.
The forward line will feature Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and youngsters Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh who have been impressive since making their debuts earlier this year.
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