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India to send full-strength CWG squad to Birmingham, Manpreet Singh back as captain
Manpreet Singh, who guided India to the historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics last year, returns as captain.
Hockey India (HI) on Monday named a full-strength men's squad for the Commonwealth Games after speculation that a second-string team could be sent for the July 28-August 8 event in Birmingham.
HI had decided against sending a team to CWG 2022 in October 2021 to focus on the Asian Games - which acts a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In February, they reversed the decision when it was announced that the governing body will send a reserve team to Birmingham, making sure the main players are rested, ready and peak at the Asiad in Hangzhou. However, the indefinite postponement of the September 10-25 Games due to rising Covid-19 cases in China changed the scenario.
Manpreet back as captain
Manpreet Singh, who guided India to the historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics last year, returns as captain after he handed over the duties to Amit Rohidas temporarily in the Pro League. Manpreet will lead an 18-member contingent at the University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre. Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh will be Manpreet's deputy.
The squad includes 14 players who were part of the squad at the Olympics with PR Sreejesh and Krishan Pathak, who returns after a brief injury break, as goalkeepers. Defenders Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh have been named along with midfielders Manpreet, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Nilakanta Sharma. Mandeep Singh will lead the charge of the strikers with Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Abhishek.
“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," chief coach Graham Reid said.
India finished third in the Pro League behind champions Netherlands and Olympic gold medallists Belgium.
“After a brief break when we return home from Netherlands, we will resume camp in SAI, Bengaluru where we will analyse our performance against Belgium and Netherlands. While there are many takeaways from this outing in Pro League, there surely are a few areas that we can improve upon ahead of the Commonwealth Games," said the Australian.
India have been grouped in Pool B with Ghana (July 31), hosts England (August 1), Canada (August 3) and Wales (August 4) with the top-2 qualifying for the semi-finals. Australia have won all six times the sport has been part of the Commonwealth Games, starting Kuala Lumpur 1998. India finished runners-up twice in 2010 and 2014 but failed to reach the podium last time at Gold Coast, after losing the bronze medal playoff to England.
Team:
GOALKEPERS: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
DEFENDERS: Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (VC), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh.
MIDFIELDERS: Manpreet Singh (C), Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Nilakanta Sharma
FORWARDS: Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek.
