ROURKELA: Upping the ante to the Hockey World Cup Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced Rs. 10 lakh reward each for Indian players hailing from Odisha partaking in the FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup, Amit Rohidas and Nilam Sanjeep Xess.

Both Rohidas and Xess made it to the Indian team that will commence its campaign against Spain on Friday.

Rohidas, who won a bronze medal at the Olympics in Tokyo, serves as Harmanpreet Singh's assistant. Although he only has 127 appearances under his belt, the defender is always deployed as a backup during penalty corners and has already scored 18 goals for his country.

The local youngster Sanjeep Xess will defend the goal alongside Rohidas. 30 international appearances and 5 goals Sanjeep Xess will try to motivate the home audience by showing up at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. He is from Kadobahal village, which is a few kilometres from the World Cup location.

When the two players enter the pitch in Indian colours, Sundargarh, "the Cradle of Hockey," will be filled with pride. Rohidas and Sanjeep Xess will undoubtedly receive support from the audience at Rourkela's Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium each time they receive the ball.

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