*Indian men hockey team

Versatile midfielder Manpreet Singh will lead the  20-member Hockey Team to defend the title at the Hero  Asian Champions Trophy which is scheduled to be held between 14 - 22 December at Dhaka. 

Defending Champions India will commence their campaign against Korea on an opening day.  Other teams taking part in the single-pool tournament for top honours are  Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh.

The team ;

Goalkeepers; Krishan B Pathak and Suraj Karkera. 

Defenders;  Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain) Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar and Mandeep Mor. 

Mid-Fielders: Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh,(capt) Jaskaran Singh, Sumit, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh  Akashdeep Singh. 

Forwards : Lalit  Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh and Shilanand Lakra. 

 

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*Manpreet Singh

Talking about the selection, Chief Coach  Graham Reid said, "While selecting this team we now must have our eyes on the future. It takes a deep and strong squad to build sustained success so players have to be given opportunities to perform." 

"We have picked a team that has a good mix of experience and younger guys who will have their chance to show what they can do. It is a hectic match schedule and given the COVID situation, FIH & AHF have allowed 18 players to be chosen each game out of a greater squad of 20.  With this line-up, India will have four options for drag-flick. "

"The Asian Champions Trophy is a World Class event that will provide all teams with a fantastic opportunity to start the next Olympiad with the much-needed competition. We are looking forward to the challenge," he added. 

India will against hosts Bangladesh on 15 December. Their third match will be against arch-rivals Pakistan on 17 December and on 18 December India will take on Malaysia followed by their match against Japan on 19 December. 

The Semi-Finals will be played on 21 December followed by the Final on 22 December. In the previous edition of this event held in Muscat, Oman, India had jointly lifted the title along with Pakistan as the Final was called off due to incessant rains. 

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