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The national hockey selectors have announced a relatively young 18-member squad for the upcoming 9th men Asia Cup hockey tournament slated to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from August 24 to September 1.
Sardar Singh has been named the captain of the side, which was pretty much on expected lines, with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh replacing Vokkaliga Raghunath as the vice captain of the side.
Raghunath has been Sardar’s deputy in all tournaments post the 2012 London Olympics, save for the 2013 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, where he was rested along with four other seasoned players.
The team is missing four key players on account of injuries – SV Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Danish Mujtaba and Akashdeep Singh. In their absence, the likes of Dharamvir Singh, Chinglensana Singh and precociously talented Mandeep Singh will have to shoulder most of the goal-scoring responsibilities.
Orissa lad Amit Rohidas has been included in the side, while Harbir Singh Sandhu has been ignored. SK Uthappa marks a comeback to the national side after last featuring in the 34th Champions Tropy in Melbourne last December.
It is learnt that he will be playing in the midfield position and not upfront. Manpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh and Gurmail Singh make up the midfield along with captain Sardar Singh.
Malak Singh is another player to stage a national comeback after playing in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
The forwardline has two new faces – Punjab youngster Ramandeep Singh and Karnataka lad Nikin Thimmaiah.
Hockey India Selectors Mr. B P Govinda, Dr. R P Singh and Mr. Arjun Halappa, Director High Performance & Interim Chief Coach, Senior Men Team Mr. Roelant Oltmans, Coach, M K Kaushik and Scientific Advisor Mr. Jason Konrath alongwith the Government Observer Mr. Harbinder Singh selected the squad during the three-day selection trials held at the SAI South Centre in Bengaluru from July 25-27.
The squad: Goalkeepers: P R Sreejesh (vice-captain), P T Rao; Defenders: V R Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh, Birendra Lakra, Gurmail Singh; Midfielders: Sardar Singh (captain), Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Dharamvir Singh, S K Uthappa; Forwards: Ramandeep Singh, Nithin Thimmaiah, Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Nikin Thimmaiah.
