New Delhi: Senior drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and forward Shivendra Singh on Wednesday returned to the Indian men's hockey team for the FIH World League Round 3 (semi-finals) to be held at Rotterdam, The Netherlands from June 13-23.
Sandeep, who was left out of the Indian squad for the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 held here earlier this year, made a comeback to the national side along with Shivendra, who last played for India in last year's London Olympics.
Sardar will continue to lead the 18-member squad while drag-flicker V R Raghunath has been named his deputy.
Hockey India Selectors Col. Balbir Singh, B P Govinda, Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans and Chief Coach Michael Nobbs alongwith Government Observer Harbinder Singh selected the list of 18 players during the meeting held on 17 May 2013.
The 18 member squad will be Captained by midfielder Sardar Singh (167 caps) while defender VR Raghunath (137 caps) will be the Vice-Captain.
The senior men team camp is currently underway and commenced at Netaji Subhas Southern Centre (NSSC), Bangalore on May 16 as final preparations for this tournament. The team will depart for Rotterdam on June 5, with their opening match scheduled against Ireland on June 13.
The Indian team qualified for the FIH Men World League Round 3 (Semi-Finals) in February this year by winning the World League Round 2 tournament in Delhi. The FIH World League is a qualification tournament for the FIH Men’s World Cup 2014 to be played in The Hague, The Netherland from 31 May-15 June 2014.
India is placed in Pool B with hosts The Netherlands, New Zealand and Ireland while Australia, Spain, Belgium and fourth team (to be known after the conclusion of the final tournament of FIH World League Round 2 on 2 June 2013) are placed in Pool A.
List of the 18 players is as under-
Goalkeepers
1. P R Sreejesh
2. P T Rao
Defenders
3. VR Raghunath (Vice-Captain)
4. Sandeep Singh
5. Rupinder Pal Singh
6. Harbir Singh Sandhu
Midfielders
7. Birendra Lakra
8. Sardar Singh (Captain)
9. Manpreet Singh
10. Kothajit Singh
11. Gurmail Singh
Forwards
12. SV Sunil
13. Shivendra Singh
14. Chinglensana Singh
15. Nithin Thimmaiah
16. Dharamvir Singh
17. Akashdeep Singh
18. Mandeep Singh
