New Delhi, Apr 12: Golakeeper Bharat Chhetri will lead India's men hockey team to take part in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Tournament to be played in Ipoh, Malaysia from May 24 to June 3.
Following is the team according to a press release issued by Hockey India:
Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri (Captain) Sreejesh PR
Defenders: Sandeep Singh , VR Raghunath , Rupinderpal Singh
Midfielders: Birendra Lakra, Sardar Singh (Vice- Captain) , Manpreet Singh , Gurbaj Singh, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam
Forwards : SV Sunil, Dharamvir Singh, Sarvanjit Singh, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh, Danish Mujtaba, S.K Uthappa, Tushar Khandker
Standbys : PT Rao (GK), Harbir Singh (Defender), Pardeep Mor (Midfielder), Pradhan Somanna (Forward)
The seven nation tournament will feature Argentina, Great Britain, India, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Pakistan. Apart from hosts Malaysia, all other teams shall be playing at the London Olympic Games in July.
Hockey India selectors B. P Govinda and Col.Balbir Singh, alongwith Government Observer Harbinder Singh witnessed the trials on 8 and 9 April 2012 before finalizing the squad.
The tournament will be played on blue artificial pitch with yellow balls on round robin league format, culminating in positional playoffs on the last day.
India will open their campaign against New Zealand on 24 May to be followed with matches against Korea, Great Britain, Malaysia, Argentina and Pakistan.
India has won the title on five earlier occasions, having annexed the title in 1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and 2010.
