With just over six months remaining before the commencement of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Indian Men's Hockey Team will participate in a series of preparatory matches in Cape Town, South Africa, from January 22-28. They will face France (ranked 9th globally), South Africa (ranked 13th globally), and the world's number one team, Netherlands.
The Indian Men's Hockey Team, under the leadership of Captain Harmanpreet Singh and Vice-Captain Hardik Singh, is scheduled to play two matches against France on January 22 and January 24. Following that, they will compete against the host nation, South Africa, on January 26. The tour will conclude with a match against the Netherlands on January 28, as stated in a press release by Hockey India.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh addressed the importance of the South Africa tour and said, "With the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2023/24 next month and the Paris Olympics 2024 just around the corner, it is crucial for our team to get as much game time that we can get so that we are in the correct mindset for the coming season."
After participating in the 5 Nations Tournament in Valencia in December 2023, where they won just one out of four matches, the Indian Men's Hockey Team is making a comeback with this tour. In the tournament, India faced a 0-1 loss to Spain, a 2-7 defeat against Belgium, and a 2-3 setback to Germany. However, they concluded the tour on a positive note by defeating France 5-4.