LIVE TV
India
Recommended Stories
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Odia hockey defender Amit Rohidas has been picked in the Indian Men’s Hockey Team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games scheduled to be played in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to April 15.
The 18-member men’s squad for the prestigious tournament was declared by Hockey India on Tuesday.
Mid-fielder Manpreet Singh will be leading the Indian side and Chinglensana Singh has been named as the vice-captain.
Other players from Odisha, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess and Shilanand Lakra, who recently played for the senior Indian team in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup failed to secure berth in the team for the prestigious competition.
Senior defender Birendra Lakra, who earlier was selected in the probable list of players, was also left out in the final 18-member side.
Amit Rohidas was selected for the first time in the Indian team last year for Belgium and Netherlands tour. He was also a part of the Indian team along with the other defender from the State Dipsan Tirkey in the Asia Cup Hockey held in Malaysia where the Indian team defeated hosts to become the champion.
He was again selected for the Hockey World League Final held at his home venue Bhubaneswar and also took part in the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament in Malaysia.
[caption id="attachment_281834" align="aligncenter" width="572"]
Photo Credit: Hockey India[/caption]
The Indian defence line-up also includes senior players like Rupinder Pal Singh and Kothajit Singh. Experienced campaigner PR Sreejesh is also back in the side to guard the Indian goal post.
The mid-field will be manned by captain-vicecaptain duo of Manpreet and Chinglensana while the forward line-up includes players like SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh and Mandeep Singh.
“This team has been picked keeping in mind the team’s performance in the previous tournaments since the Asia Cup 2017. We have tried out different combinations in the past events and we believe this will be the most effective combination for the Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games,” said Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.
The Indian team is in Pool B along with arch-rivals Pakistan, Malaysia, Wales and England. Team India will play its first game against neighbouring country Pakistan on April 7.
Squad:
Goalkeepers
Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran and Suraj Karkera
Defenders
Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Gurinder Singh and Amit Rohidas
Midfielders
Manpreet Singh(C), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (VC), Sumit and Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards
Akashdeep Singh, Sunil Sowmarpet Vitalacharya, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Dilpreet Singh
