Defender Amit Rohidas will lead the Indian hockey team, while Harmanpreet Singh will be his deputy for the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League double-header against England at the Kalinga Stadium here on April 2 and 3. The 22-member squad includes goalkeepers PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, defenders Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Neelam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas and Jugraj Singh. Speaking about the team, chief coach Graham Reid said he was happy with the way the youngsters were improving after each outing. "It has been quite exciting to see how some of the younger players are grabbing the opportunity to play in the Pro League and have been showing great potential. It is good for us to have these options; we have been using this platform to try out different combinations.
England has a talented squad and no doubt the matches this weekend will be quite exciting." The Indian team has so far played eight matches in this season of the Pro League. The team is currently second on the table behind Germany, who have 17 points. India have 16 points. The Indian team has beaten South Africa at home (10-2, 10-2) while they have won a game and lost a game against France (5-0, 2-5) playing in South Africa. At home, they won a game and lost one to Spain (5-4, 3-5), and recently against Argentina they lost 2-2 (1-3) and won 4-3.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh.
Defenders: Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Neelam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh.
Midfielders: Jaskaran Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Sumit, Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra.
Standbys: Suraj Karkera, Jarmanpreet Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Gurinder Singh, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay, Akashdeep Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Dilpreet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Simranjeet Singh.