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Hockey India has announced the senior men's core probable group which will play major international tournaments in 2022. All 33 players were selected following a three-week camp at SAI, Bengaluru. Major tournaments for the men in blue will commence with the FIH Hockey Pro League starting next month.
The 33-member core group features a mix of veterans as well as youngsters. The squad includes skipper Manpreet Singh, PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay among other Olympic heroes who were part of the Tokyo Olympic bronze medal winning stint.
P R Sreejesh, who has his eyes set on the Asian Champions Trophy, will return to the squad ahead of all major international tournaments. The veteran Indian men's hockey goalkeeper has also recently been shortlisted for the prestigious World Games Athlete of the Year award.
Meanwhile, youngsters like Mandeep Mor, penalty corner specialist Jugraj Singh and speedy strikers Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh will also be part of the team
Indian men's hockey chief Coach Graham Reid gave an insight behind the selection process of the core probables Speaking about the new core group for 2022, Chief Coach Graham Reid said,
"We have used the last three weeks to have a look at the next layer of players in the country. Today we have chosen 33 which allows us to refresh and bring some new faces into the squad. This is an important year for us and this new squad will help us face these challenges head on.”
Reid also spoke about a centralized training program that has been very helpful for athletes during pandemic times. He further added that this approach is great for building a strong team.
"One thing that was certain was all 60 players who had come into the National Camp improved during the three weeks of camp making it extremely difficult to pick the final 33 for the core group. This shows you how a centralised environment with good tempo of training and games can improve players."
Indian men's hockey squad:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera and Krishan Bahadur Pathak.
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay, Jugraj Singh
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Jaskaran Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno
Forwards: Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen
In Rehabilitation: Simranjeet Singh, Gurinder Singh
