Hockey India on Wednesday announced the 26-man Indian men’s squad for the four-nation tour to Cape Town, South Africa starting January 22, 2024.

The tournament will include France, Netherlands, India, and South Africa, the host nation. Harmanpreet Singh will lead the Indian team and FIH champion of the year Hardik Singh will take the role of vice-captain. Youngsters Araijeet Singh Hundal and Boby Singh Dhami have joined the team after a successful tour with the Indian junior team. Goalkeepers PR Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak and Pawan have been joined by defenders Jarmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Sumit, Sanjay and Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem.

The middle players selected in the team are Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Hardik Singh, and Manpreet Singh. The front row includes Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, and Boby Singh Dhami.

Speaking about the tour of South Africa, Head Coach Craig Fulton said: “We

are very excited to start the Olympic season with the tour of South Africa where we will face some athletes. We have selected a big team to give the players visibility and it will also give me the opportunity to see some players in competitive conditions before the FIH Hockey Pro League. We had a short camp at SAI, Bengaluru before leaving for the tour. Also added two young players to the senior team and it will be interesting to see how they adapt to the level we are playing at.

Indian Team for South Africa:

GOALKEEPERS

1. Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran

2. Krishan Bahadur Pathak

3. Pawan

DEFENDERS

4. Jarmanpreet Singh

5. Jugraj Singh

6. Amit Rohidas

7. Harmanpreet Singh (C)

8. Varun Kumar

9. Sumit

10. Sanjay

11. Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem

MIDFIELDERS

12. Vivek Sagar Prasad

13. Nilakanta Sharma

14. Rajkumar Pal

15. Shamsher Singh

16. Vishnukant Singh

17. Hardik Singh (VC)

18. Manpreet Singh

FORWARDS

19. Mandeep Singh

20. Abhishek

21. Sukhjeet Singh

22. Gurjant Singh

23. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay

24. Akashdeep Singh

25. Araijeet Singh Hundal

26. Boby Singh Dhami

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