3 Odisha Players In India Men's Hockey Team For Germany, Belgium Tour

New Delhi: Brining laurels for the State, three Odia players have been included in the 22-member Indian men’s hockey team for the 17-day Europe tour where they will play two matches each against Germany and Great Britain national teams.

The Odia players included in the squad are Birendra Lakra, Amit Rohidas and Dipsan Tirkey.

The 22-member squad is scheduled to leave on 21st February 2021 from Bengaluru for Krefeld, Germany where they will play the home team on 28th February and 2nd March 2021. They will then travel to Antwerp, Belgium where they are scheduled to play against Great Britain team on 6th March and 8th March 2021.

The Indian Men's Team last participated in an International competition in February 2020 when they took on Australia during the FIH Hockey Pro League matches held in Bhubaneswar. As a result of the Indian team's good performance, the team had climbed to 4th in the FIH world rankings, India's highest ranking till date.

Expressing his eagerness to watch his team compete, the Indian Men's Chief Coach Graham Reid said, "We are very grateful for the opportunity to go to Europe, and we are looking forward to having our first competitive matches in just over 12 months. Playing against powerhouse teams like Germany and Great Britain will provide us with great competition and help immensely in our FIH Hockey Pro League and Olympic Games preparation. Playing any top 10 ranked team is always a great experience for the team."

The squad:
P R Sreejesh (C), Krishan Bahadur Pathak , Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey, Gurinder Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (VC), Surender Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Chinglensana Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad , Rajkumar Pal , Simranjeet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh , Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.

(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)