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The Indian men's hockey team departed for Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday ahead of the FIH Pro League. The hockey tournament will be played from February 8-13 in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
The Manpreet Singh-led squad will be in action in the upcoming FIH Pro League matches against South Africa and France.
However, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Jaskaran Singh will miss the tournament due to health issues. Sumit will replace Jaskaran while Gursahibjit Singh will take Lalit's place ahead of the season opener.
Chief coach Graham Reid shared his thoughts on the absence of the two key players ahead of their departure. He believes the setback won't affect the team much since the men's core squad has enough depth and players capable of performing at the international level.
In an official Hockey India release, Reid said:
"India forward Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Jaskaran Singh will not be joining the team for South Africa. Standbys Sumit will replace Jaskaran in the midfield and Gursahibjit Singh will replace Lalit. Though it is a minor setback for us, we were always prepared for such a scenario and had the option of having five standbys.
"This is the best part about having a group of 33 players who are all capable of putting up a good show on any given day," he added. "They are able to step up and perform for the team. We continue to remain upbeat about our campaign and look forward to some good hockey in Johannesburg."
Skipper Manpreet Singh, too, spoke about the team's preparedness and expectations from the tournament as they take on France and the home team.
'I think we're all thrilled to be traveling again for some good international hockey," he said. "While we will miss Lalit and Jaskaran, the team is well prepared and most importantly we are all hungry for some good matches against South Africa and France."
Manpreet is aware of the quality of the opposition the Indian team will face and isn't taking any of the opponents lightly.
"Both South Africa and France are very capable of upsetting any big team of the world and we can't take them lightly," he said. "It will be interesting to see how well we will execute our plans which we have been trying out at the national camp."
FIH Pro League 2022: Indian hockey team fixures
Here's the full schedule for India's matches.
India vs France
Date: February 8, Timings: 21:30pm IST
India vs South Africa
Date: February 9, Timings: 21:30pm IST
India vs France
Date: February 12, Timings: 21:30pm IST
India vs South Africa
Date: February 13, Timings: 21:30pm IST
FIH Pro League 2022: Live streaming details
All FIH Pro League 2022 matches will be shown live on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD. Matches will also be shown live on Hotstar.
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