The 24-man Indian men’s hockey team will compete in the 100th-anniversary international tournament of the Spanish Hockey Federation, as announced by Hockey India on July 7. The event will take place in Terrasa, Spain from July 25 to July 30,
As a warm-up for the eagerly anticipated Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai in 2023, which would be followed by the critical Hangzhou Asian Games, India will compete against England, the Netherlands, and the tournament’s hosts Spain in the four-nation tournament.
Craig Fulton, India’s chief national coach for the men’s team has made some adjustments to the squad for the four-nation competition taking in the end of July in order to prepare the team for the Asian Games, which will be held later in the year in Hangzhou, China.
On the announcement of India being a part of four nation’s 100th-anniversary Spanish hockey federation- International Tournament in Spain, Defenders Varun Kumar and Nilam Sanjeep Xess, along with Sumit and Nilakanta Sharma returned to the side.
Fulton has also stated that he is evaluating the players from the core group who were unable to be a part of the FIH Hockey Pro League matches in London and Eindhoven.
The team will continue to be vice captained by the talented midfielder Hardik Singh and captained by star drag-flicker and defender Harmanpreet Singh.
The talented Duo of Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran and Krishnan Bahadur Pathak will be given in charge of the goalkeeping department, and Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh and Sanjay will be included in the list of defenders. The lineup also includes defenders Varun Kumar and Nilam Sanjeep Xess, who were absent from the FIH Pro League games in Belgium.
Midfield will be managed by energetic and spirited players like Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, and Raj Kumar Pal.