Captain Manpreet Singh, who led the Indian team to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, has another big responsibility. The star midfielder will now take over the reins of the team in the double leg FIH Pro League against South Africa and France between February 8 and 13. A 20-member Indian hockey team has been announced for the match. Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh has been made the vice-captain.
Young drag-flicker Jugraj Singh and striker Abhishek have been included in the Indian hockey team for the first time. Jugraj, who hails from Attari in Punjab, has impressed the national selectors during the first-ever Hockey India Senior Men's Inter-Department National Championship. After which, he is also getting an opportunity to join the Senior National Camp for the first time.
Abhishek, on the other hand, is a striker who has also been a part of the junior programme earlier. He played for India in the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2017 and 2018. Abhishek, who hails from Sonipat in Haryana, has also done well in the first Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship for Punjab National Bank. For which he was also assisted to make it to the Senior National Camp for the first time.
Goalkeepers PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak's names are also on the list in the 20-member squad. Defenders Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh and Jugraj are also part of the squad. In the midfield, Manpreet will be accompanied by Nilakant Sharma, Hardik Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Shamsher Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad. Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh and Abhishek are also in the 20-men squad.
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, India has 5 standby players as well as 4 additional players in the team. The Indian team is scheduled to leave for South Africa from Bengaluru on February 4.
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