The 2023 men's Hockey World Cup is all set to kick off from Friday in India. The tournament is being held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, Odisha, from January 13 to 29.
While hosts India may not be heavy favourites for the title, they are expected to make a deep run after their ever-improving performances in the last couple of years. They won the Olympics bronze in 2021 and Commonwealth Games silver in 2022, and will look to continue that steak in 2023.
India's squad will be captained by Harmanpreet Singh and Amit Rohidas has been named the vice-captain of coach Graham Reid's 18-member squad.
Here's a closer look at India's squad for the 2023 men's Hockey World Cup:
Alternate Players: Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh
PR Sreejesh, who will be playing his fourth World Cup, and Krishan B Pathak are the goalkeepers while the defence will be led by the captain Harmanpreet alongside his deputy Amit, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh and Nilam Sanjeep Xess.
The midfield will see the return of young prodigy Vivek Sagar Prasad, who missed the recent tour of Australia as well as the FIH Hockey Pro League due to an ankle injury. He will be joined by Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh and Akashdeep Singh.
The forward line features Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and youngsters Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
The team of 18 was chosen after a two-day trial held at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru, where 33 players were put to test.
India are placed placed in pool D alongside England, Spain and Wales. The hosts begin their campaign against Spain on January 13 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.