Bengaluru: Promising defender Dipsan Tirkey was on Friday named skipper of the junior Indian men's team for the upcoming EurAsia Cup in Russia and a six match tour of England next month.
The EurAsia Cup will be held from July 9 in Yekatarinberg in Russia while the England tour kicks off on July 22, Hockey India announced while naming drag flicker Varun Kumar as Dipsan's deputy for both the tournaments.
In the EurAsia Cup, the Indians will lock horns with two Russian clubs before heading for England for six matches against the hosts and Scotland.
Keeping in mind the junior World Cup in Lucknow later this year, the team expects to give enough exposure to the likes of talented youngsters like Santa Singh and Parvinder Singh.
Speaking at the announcement function, HI secretary general Md. Mushtaque Ahmad said, "As hosts of the junior World Cup, we want to give our team the best platform and preparation to bring glory to the country. Keeping that in mind, we have started the process early, and are initiating the boys into international hockey on these two back to back tours. I have full confidence they will come back enriched and make us proud of their performances."
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Suraj Karkera, Kishan B. Pathak
Defenders: Dipsan Tirkey (Captain), Varun Kumar (Vice Captain), Hardik Singh, Vikramjit Singh, Gurinder Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess
Midfielders: Nilkanta Sharma, Sumit, Santa Singh, Manpreet, Shamsher Singh
Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Ajay Yadav, Parvinder Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Ajit Kumar Pandey