Hockey India has named P.R. Sreejesh and Rani as captains of senior men's and women's national teams, respectively, until the end of 2018. Sreejesh returns to the leadership role after coming back from a knee injury that he sustained at the 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Meawhile, Rani continues in her position for all the tournaments in 2018 including Hockey Women's World Cup London 2018 starting in July and 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.
Sreejesh was given the captaincy in 2016 for the FIH Champions Trophy where India, under his leadership, won a historic silver medal. He was entrusted the leadership mantle for the Rio Olympics. During the 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the experienced goalkeeper tore his ligament in his right knee.
Sreejesh returned to action at the four-nation invitational hockey tournament in New Zealand in January 2018, putting up a strong performance where India finished second. Rani, meanwhile, stepped up in to the role of captain guiding India to an Asia Cup win. Under her leadership, the team climbed from 12th to the 10th position. Always leading from the front, Rani also led the team to make a semi-final appearance, first in 12 years, at the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018.
55 players called for national camp
Meanwhile, Hockey India has called 55 players for the men's national camp to be held in Bengaluru from April 27 to May 18. The list which will be pruned to 48, features all the 18 players who were part of the Indian men's team that participated in the Commonwealth Games and includes players from the domestic circuit who showcased outstanding performance.
The full list:
Goalkeepers: P.R. Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera, Krishan B Pathak, Vikas Dahiya, Jagdeep Dayal.
Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Kothajit Singh, Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas Birendra Lakra, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jarmanpreet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Amit Gowda, Pardeep Mor, Anand Lakra
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, Simranjeet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Lalit Upadhyay, Sardar Singh, Hardik Singh, Manpreet (Jr.), Somjeet, Raj Kumar Pal, Amon Mirash Tirkey, Dharminder Singh, V. Veerthamizhan
Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Dilpreet Singh, Sumit Kumar, Mohd. Umar, Abharan Sudev, Mohd. Raheel, Pardeep Singh, Ajay Yadav, Armaan Qureshi, Sukhjeet Singh, Gagandeep Singh (Sr.), Harish Mutagar, Abhilash Stalin C, Kartik Yadav, Pravakar Minz, Maninderjeet Singh.
