Asian Champions Trophy: Manpreet Singh to lead 20-member Indian men's hockey squad

Hockey India has announced a 20-member Indian men's team for the upcoming Men's Asian Champions Trophy, which will be held from December 14-22 at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

India and Pakistan are the defending champions of the Asian Champions Trophy. The last edition final, in 2018, was abandoned due to heavy rain.

India begin their campaign on the opening day against Korea. Apart from India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and hosts Bangladesh will vie for the title in a single-pool tournament.

Manpreet Singh will be the skipper of the Indian men's hockey team, with Harmanpreet Singh being his deputy. The team includes goalkeepers Krishan B Pathak and Suraj Karkera.

The backline will see Harmanpreet Singh leading the charge along with Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar and Mandeep Mor.

Read: What hurdles must the Indian Men's Hockey Team overcome to reach the pinnacle of FIH world rankings?

In this line-up India will have four options for dragflick at the Asian Champions Trophy.

The midfield will see Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Sumit, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh and the experienced Akashdeep Singh.

The forwardline will be led by Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, and Shilanand Lakra.

Team for Asian Champions Trophy has a good mix of youth and experience

The Indian team for the Asian Champions Trophy has a good mix of youth and experience, as confirmed by the Indian team's chief coach Graham Reid.

Reid said the team for the Asian Champions Trophy has been selected, keeping the future, including the next Olympic cycle, in mind.

"While selecting this team we now must have our eyes on the future," he was quoted as saying by Hockey India. "It takes a deep and strong squad to build sustained success so players have to be given opportunities to perform. 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."

Considering the prevailing pandemic situation, the FIH and the Asian Hockey Federation have allowed all teams to name 20-member squads, out of which 18 can be selected for each game.

"It is a hectic match schedule and given the pandemic situation, the FIH and AHF have allowed 18 players to be chosen in every game out of a greater squad of 20," Reid explained. "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."

At the Asian Champions Trophy, India will play their opening match against Korea on December 14, followed by a match against hosts Bangladesh on December 15.

The third match will be against arch rivals Pakistan on December 17 and on December 18, India will take on Malaysia. India's last league game is against Japan on December 19.

The semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy will be played on December 21 followed by the final on December 22.