Hockey India has announced the Indian squad ahead of the FIH World Cup 2023. The tournament will be played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 23-29 2023. The World Cup squad was selected after two-day trials in SAI Centre in Bengaluru where 33 players were part of the selection.
The team has a great mix of experienced and young players who will hope to end India's wait for a podium finish at the prestigious event. Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh will lead the Indian men’s hockey team at the tournament while Amit Rohidas has been named as the vice-captain of the squad.
The Indian team is slotted in Pool D alongside Spain, England and Wales. India will kick off their campaign against Spain on January 13 in Rourkela. This will be the fourth time India will be hosting the World Cup. The last time the Indian team won the World Cup, was in 1975 by beating Pakistan 2-1 in Kuala Lumpur.
Indian men’s hockey head coach Coach Graham Reid expressed excitement about the team and believes that the team has a chance to go deep in the tournament. He said, "The World Cup is the most important “Hockey Only” tournament there is. A home World Cup puts extra importance and extra pressure on this event like no other. Every country chooses the best team they believe is available to them at the time and tries to provide their team with the best preparation they can.”
"We have also had a great preparation over the last two months including a home Pro League series and a very tough tour to Australia against the world’s No.1. We are looking forward to getting to Odisha and putting the finishing touches to our preparations for what will be an exciting and challenging tournament ahead," Reid added.
Indian hockey full squad for FIH World Cup 2023
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh
Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh
Alternate players: Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh
Head coach: Graham Reid