New Delhi: Defender Rohit has been named captain of the Indian junior men’s hockey team, with Shardanand Tiwari as his deputy in a 20-member squad which will tour Europe from May 20-29.
India will play five matches across three nations — Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands — during the tour, as part of Hockey India’s initiative to help the team gain exposure and experience.
“We have been training hard at our camp and have developed an understanding of each other’s gameplay,” said captain Rohit in a Hockey India release.
“It will be wonderful to play together against teams from other nations to help us build on our game and get better through this kind of exposure.”
India will play their first match May 20 against Belgium in Antwerp, before playing the same opponents in Breda, Netherlands May 22.
India will then play the Netherlands’ Club team Bredase Hockey Vereniging Push in Breda May 23, followed by a game against Germany May 28 in Germany.
They will then return to Breda to play Germany once again on 29th May in their final match of the tour.
India vice-captain Shardanand Tiwari said, “This will be a wonderful experience and will go a long way in evaluating where we stand as a team and as individual players.
“It will be a great way to figure out our strengths and what areas we would need to touch upon.”
Squad:
Goalkeepers — Prince Deep Singh, Bikramjit Singh.
Defenders — Shardanand Tiwari, Yogember Rawat, Anmol Ekka, Rohit, Manoj Yadav, Talem Priyo Barta.
Midfielders — Ankit Pal, Roshan Kujur, Bipin Billavara Ravi, Mukesh Toppo, Manmeet Singh, Vachan H A
Forwards — Sourabh Anand Kushwaha, Arshdeep Singh, Gurjot Singh, Mohd. Konain Dad, Dilraj Singh, Gursewak Singh.