The 16-team tournament begins on January 13, with the final scheduled for January 29. It will be hosted by two cities in Odisha — rurkela and Bhubaneswar.
India ranked 6th was placed in Group D along with England, Spain and Wales. The hosts will open their campaign against the Spaniards on January 13 in Rourkela at the new purpose-built Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium.
The core group of 33 players underwent a two-day selection test at the SAI Center in Bengaluru to select the squad that was supposed to end India’s 47-year wait for a World Championship. Another Cup. India won the one and only World Cup championship in 1975.
Defender Odisha Amit Rohidas will be Harmanpreet’s deputy, while PR Sreejesh will go on to defend the spot in his fourth World Cup appearance – third at home.
The return of Vivek Sagar Prasad in midfield, which will be led by the former captain Manpreet SinghThis is the best news for the bronze medalists of the Tokyo Olympics.
Vivek missed the recent tour of Australia as well as the Pro League due to an ankle injury.
The good form of veteran striker Akashdeep Singh has recently earned him a starting place in the front line, which will also feature World Cup debutants Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
Rajkumar Pal and drag-flicker Jugraj Singh are the two replacements who will be on standby.
Coach Graham Reid said: “The World Cup is the most important ‘Hockey Only’ tournament out there.
“The World Cup at home places more importance and pressure on this event than any other. Every country chooses the best team they believe is available to them at the time and tries to do their best. Try to give their team the best possible preparation.
“We have also tried to do both with the selection of the Indian team for the World Cup, choosing a mix of experienced and younger, exciting players who can bring something to the table. especially.”
Hockey Association of India President, Dr Padma Shri @DilipTirkey talks about his experience in the 1998 World Cup with… https://t.co/yQ7qdlxJff
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Reid added: “We’ve also had great preparation over the last two months, including our home Pro League series and a very tough tour of Australia against the No. 1 in the world. We’re very excited. Looking forward to coming to Odisha and booking is finalizing our preparations for an exciting and challenging tournament to come.”
INDIA STRATEGY
Goalie: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh
defender: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (vice captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess
Midfielder: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh
Forward: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh
Substitute Player (Standby): Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh
(Input: Hockey India Press Release)
