Asian Champions Trophy hockey: No PR Sreejesh in Indian men’s squad – full schedule
Manpreet Singh will captain the side with Harmanpreet Singh as his deputy. India clash with Pakistan on December 17.
India have named a 20-member men's hockey team squad for the Asian Champions Trophy 2021, which will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from December 14 to 22.
Manpreet Singh, who captained India to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will lead the squad. Defender Harmanpreet Singh will be vice-captain.
One big name missing from the Indian squad is veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. The 33-year-old has been a regular in the Indian hockey team and was one of the standout stars at Tokyo 2020. Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera will be India’s custodian choices in PR Sreejesh’s absence.
“While selecting this team we now must have our eyes on the future. It takes a deep and strong squad to build sustained success so players have to be given opportunities to perform,” India men’s hockey chief coach Graham Reid said. “We have picked a team that has a good mix of experience and younger guys, who will have their chance to show what they can do.
“The Asian Champions Trophy is a world-class event that will provide all teams a fantastic opportunity to start the next Olympiad with much-needed competition. We are looking forward to the challenge,” Reid added.
Indian hockey team for Asian Champions Trophy 2021
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (vice-captain), Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Mandeep Mor
Midfielders: Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Jaskaran Singh, Sumit, Rajkumar Pal, Akashdeep Singh, Shamsher Singh
Forwards: Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra
India and Pakistan are the defending champions, having shared the honours in the 2018 edition at Muscat after the final was called off due to heavy rains.
In the upcoming edition, India will battle it out against South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh in the single-pool tournament. The top four make the semi-finals.
The latest edition of the Asian Champions Trophy was initially scheduled to be held in November last year but was postponed several times due to COVID-19.
Asian Champions Trophy 2021: India schedule, fixtures and live match times
All times are Indian Standard Times (IST)
December 14, Tuesday: India vs South Korea – 3:00 PM IST
December 15, Wednesday: India vs Bangladesh – 3:00 PM IST
December 17, Friday: India vs Pakistan – 3:00 PM IST
December 18, Saturday: India vs Malaysia – 3:00 PM IST
December 19, Sunday: India vs Japan – 3:00 PM IST
December 21, Tuesday: Semi-finals and fifth-sixth playoff – 3:00 PM IST onwards
December 22, Wednesday: Final and third/fourth playoff – 5:30 PM IST onwards