Sreejesh to lead India

New Delhi, July 9: Goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh will lead the 18-member Indian Men’s Hockey Team at the 18th Asian Games, slated to be held in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18, Hockey India announced on Monday.

Midfielder Chinglensana Singh Kangujam has been named the Vice Captain for the tournament and he will be joined by the experienced Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad in the midfield.

India’s forwardline will see Akashdeep Singh return to the squad. Experienced S.V. Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Dilpreet Singh have been included in the squad.

The team’s defence will be strengthened with the return of experienced dragflicker Rupinder Pal Singh who was rested for the Champions Trophy.

The backline will also see three other dragflickers Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar and Amit Rohidas apart from the experienced Surender Kumar and Birendra Lakra.

Speaking about the team composition, Chief Coach Harendra Singh said: “We have a great mix of players who have shown their abilities in the recent tournaments. It is unfortunate we will be missing out on Ramandeep Singh’s experience as he is ruled out of the Asian Games due to a recent knee surgery he underwent.”

“But it is good to have Akashdeep Singh back in the mix. Both Rupinder and Akashdeep have remained in camp when the team was away in Breda and have had good match practice against Bangladesh over the past week and are raring to go,” he added. IANS