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The senior men's hockey team's national camp for the upcoming season commences at the Sports Authority of India, in Bengaluru, on January 3.
Hockey India have announced a list of 60 players, which will be pruned to 33 at a later stage for the national camp. The players have been selected based on their performances at recently concluded major tournaments. This includes the Men's National Championship, Junior Men's National Championship and other Hockey India sanctioned domestic events.
The list includes retained players from both the junior and senior men's core groups.
Read: "2021 has been dream year for Indian Hockey," says Skipper Manpreet Singh
The 60-member list will be further pruned down to 33 players ahead of their preparations for the FIH Pro League 2022 matches.
Strong bench strength vital in challenging year for Indian hockey
Graham Reid, the chief coach of the Indian men's hockey team, said it is important for the players to start afresh in the new Olympic cycle.
"The 60 players have earned their spot on the back of their recent performances on the international and the domestic circuit. For those who have been selected from the previous 33 senior men's core probable group, it will be very important for them to maintain their level to ensure they are picked in the final list of 33," Reid said.
He added:
"We are already in the new Olympic cycle now, so everything starts from zero. It's really important to move ahead and start afresh."
Also read: No player will say no to Olympics, we are greedy people: Veteran goalkeeper P R Sreejesh
The chief coach said having a strong pool of players is vital given the busy hockey season ahead. The schedule includes the FIH Pro League, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
"With the FIH Pro League, Asian Games and various other top-level tournaments lined up ahead, it will be very crucial for us to have a strong pool of 33 as we gear up for the challenging 2022 season," added Reid.
List of players selected for hockey national camp
The list of 60 players selected for the Indian national hockey camp is given below.
Goalkeepers: Sreejesh P.R., Krishan B Pathak, Suraj Karkera, Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Pawan, Kamalbir Singh, Pankaj Kumar Rajak, and Ayush Dwivedi.
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, Mandeep Mor, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach, Dinachandra Singh Moirangthem, Abhisek Lakra, Manjeet, Mohd Faraz, and Parampreet Singh.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Hardik Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Mareeswaran Sakthivel, Biju Ekka, Sheshe Gowda B M, Ashis Kumar Topno, Jugraj Singh, Bharath K R, Likhith BM, Keshav Tyagi, and Sushil Dhanwar.
Forwards: Simranjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Maninder Singh, S. Karthi, Prabhjot Singh, Pardeep Singh, Abhishek, Abharan Sudev, Mohd. Raheel, Sukhjeet Singh, Pawan Rajbhar, and Mohd Umar.
