New Delhi: Rupinder Pal Singh returns to the national team set-up and will lead the side as Hockey India on Monday named a 20-member Indian men’s hockey team for the forthcoming Men’s Asia Cup scheduled to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from May 23rd to June 1st 2022. The prestigious event which is a World Cup qualifier will see India, Japan, Pakistan and hosts Indonesia in pool A while Malaysia, Korea, Oman and Bangladesh are grouped in pool B.
The Asia Cup defending champions India will be led by Olympic bronze medalists Rupinder and Birendra Lakra, who will shoulder the responsibility as vice-captain. Both of them had announced their retirement post-Olympics but are making a comeback to the national set-up as reported earlier this year. SV Sunil also is a prominent name to feature in the squad.
Speaking about the team composition, Coach BJ Kariappa (who is the designated junior national team in charge) said, “The team is a good mix of experienced senior players and newcomers, many of whom have played at the international level in different age-group matches but have not made their Senior India debut. Since India has already qualified for the FIH Men’s World Cup by virtue of being the hosts, this will be a good platform for us to try out this new group and test how these players utilize the opportunity.”
The team will see as many as 10 players make their senior India debut. The 11th edition of the quadrennial event will take place at GBK Sports Complex Hockey Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia. Host nation Indonesia will be participating in this event for the first time with India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Oman completing the line-up.