Hockey India names 39-member core probable group ahead of South Africa Tour

Hockey India on Tuesday named a 39-member core group for the Men’s National Coaching Camp that begins on January 3, 2024 at Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru. The short 11-day camp will be held ahead of the team’s departure for Cape Town, South Africa where they will take part in a 4 Nation Tournament to be played against France, the Netherlands and hosts South Africa.

The Test event in South Africa, as part of the team’s preparations for the Paris Olympic Games, will provide good exposure ahead of India’s FIH Hockey Pro League campaign opener in Odisha this February where they will take on Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland in double-header games.

List of players in India’s 39-member core-probable group:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Suraj Karkera, Pawan and Prashant Kumar Chauhan

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach, Dipsan Tirkey, Manjeet

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Sumit, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Maninder Singh

Forwards: S. Karthi, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Shilanand Lakra and Pawan Rajbhar.

Talking about the upcoming camp, Indian Men’s Hockey Team Chief Coach Craig Fulton said, “I believe the players are returning fresh from a good break with their families for the holiday season. We begin the hockey season for the year with the South Africa Tour and from here on it will only get busier with regular games leading up to the Paris Olympics. Our core group is quite solid with experienced players and some of them named in this group will also be playing the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman.”

“As always, this camp too will be focused on getting better as a team and we are eager to get on with the season,” Fulton added.