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Midfielder Hardik Singh will be back in action during the upcoming FIH Hockey Pro League tournament in Rourkela, Hockey India announced on Monday. Hardik was sidelined during the league matches of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup held earlier in January in Odisha.
Hardik is among the 20 members announced by Hockey India on Monday for the next month’s FIH Hockey Pro League in Odisha. World Champions Germany and World No. 4 Australia are the other two teams in the fray.
The Pro League competition will be India’s first important event since the national team finished ninth at the 2023 Hockey World Cup.
India, in their last match of the Hockey World Cup, beat South Africa 5-2 to finish ninth. India lost to New Zealand in the crossovers for the quarterfinals.
India’s chief men’s hockey coach Graham Reid and other members of the coaching staff resigned after India’s poor show at the hockey World Cup in January. For the upcoming Pro League matches, Hockey India have named David John and BJ Kariappa as interim coaches.
The Indian team for the tournament will be captained by Harmanpreet Singh, while Hardik has been named as the vice-captain of the team.
The 20-member team includes seasoned goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. While Krishan Bahadur Pathak will skip the matches due to personal engagements, he will be replaced by Pawan.
India to face Germany in first match of the Pro League
India will take on Germany in their first match on March 10. While Germany will take on Australia on March 11. India will play Australia on March 12 and face Germany on March 14. The final match will take place on March 15 in Rourkela.
Other members of the Indian team include Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Manjeet, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, S Karthi, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, and Gurjant.
Players not shortlisted for the tournament have been relieved from the national coaching camp and will be seen in action at the third edition of the Hockey India Senior Men's Inter-Department National Championships in Bengaluru from February 26.
Meanwhile, the 20-member Indian team for the upcoming matches will continue to train until March 6 at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus in Bengaluru.
