The Indian Men’s Hockey team are gearing up to face Argentina in the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League double-header. Therefore Hockey India announced the 22-man team list all set to face the South Americans, who are scheduled to play at the iconic Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar.
Indian Junior team star Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh who has featured in the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup will be the only fresh face in the newly announced team for the senior Indian team that will face Argentina at the Kalinga Stadium.
The 22-member squad includes goalkeepers PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak. While Amit Rohidas will be the main man in defence for the Men in Blue along with Harmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar and Jarmanpreet Singh.
Indian skipper Manpreet Singh will once again look to lead the Men in Blue to victories against Argentina. He will be well supported by midfielders like Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma. There will be eyes on new youngster Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh as he will be looking to justify his selection into the senior team.
The forward line will see the return of Gurjant Singh and the veteran will be well supported by players like Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh and Abhishek.
Additionally, Suraj Karkera, Mandeep Mor, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Jaskaran Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno as well as Gursahibjit Singh and Mohd. Raheel have been named as standbys for the FIH Pro league.
Speaking about the team, Chief Coach Graham Reid said, “These games will provide great exposure for young, new players coming up the ranks, while as a team we are also getting to work out different combinations ahead of the Asian Games.”
The Australian head coach lavished praise on the debutant Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh and feels that he is a very exciting young midfielder who can help the cause of the Indian team in the upcoming matches. He shared intricate details of the youngsters on how he works under defensive pressure and also praised his unorthodox ball control.
“Rabichandra is an exciting young midfielder who showed a solid glimpse into what he can bring to the team during the Junior World Cup. I am looking forward to seeing the defensive pressure he takes to the opposition and his uncanny control with the ball, both great assets in the way we like to play. We also have Gurjant returning to the squad and we continue to try Jugraj, Sukhjeet and Abhishek who are showing good potential,” Reid added.
The Manpreet Singh led Indian side has played six matches in this season of FIH Hockey Pro League. They defeated South Africa at home (10-2, 10-2) whereas they won one and lost won against France. Same result happened against Spain aswell where they won the first match only to lose the second clash. The Graham Reid led Indian team placed second in the pool standing with a total of 12 points. They trail Netherlands by four points who are at the summit of the FIH Pro League pool standings
