Indian Hockey Association announced the 18-players squad for the upcoming 21st Commonwealth games. Veteran Goal-keeper PR Sreejesh has returned to the 18-member Indian Men’s Hockey team for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, while former captain Sardar Singh who led India in the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy, has been dropped. Indian Mid-fielder Manpreet Singh will lead India in Commonwealth games 2018. Team India has been placed in Pool B along with Pakistan, Malaysia, Wales and England and they have to play their first match against Pakistan on 7 April. In the captaincy of Manpreet, India won gold in the 2017 Asia Cup and a bronze medal in the Hockey World League.
After the poor performance in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2018, Veteran Sardar Singh was determined to be out from the Commonwealth Games 2018. Although Ramanadip Singh has not gotten a place, despite his excellent performance in Azlan Shah Cup 2018, is a surprise decision. Young talent Dilpreet Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad also got the prize for outstanding performance on New Zealand tour. Both scored goals in important matches. Indian Defense will be lead by Experienced stars– Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Gurinder Singh and Amit Rohidas. In the previous two trips at the Commonwealth Games, India has finished second behind Australia.
Indian Head Coach Sjoerd Marijne said,” The team has been selected by keeping in mind the performance of the players’ from Asia Cup 2017 to till now. We tried several combinations, and we believe that this will be the most effective combination for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. “He said,” The match-to-match improvement in the team performance is improving. We could not win the medal in The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2018, but it would not have any effect on our performance in the Commonwealth Games. “India has been runners-up in the last two Commonwealth Games, and Captain Manpreet is sure this time to win this title.
Indian Hockey Squad for XXI Commonwealth games:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera.
Defenders: Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (C), K Chinglensana Singh (VC), Sumit, Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, SV Sunil, Dilpreet Singh.
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