PR Sreejesh, Sushila Chanu to lead Indian hockey teams in Rio Olympics

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and defender Sushila Chanu have been named as captain of India's men and women hockey teams respectively for next month's Rio Olympics.

Having successfully led the team to a historic runners-up finish in the FIH Champions Trophy last month, Sreejesh was once again entrusted with the responsibility of captaincy ahead of Sardar Singh.

On the other hand, Sushila replaced Ritu Rani at the helm of the women's team after the latter was dropped by the selectors due to poor form and attitude problems.

The 18-member squads, including two stand-bys, were announced by Hockey India president Narinder Batra in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah and BCCI President Anurag Thakur in a packed press conference here.

Men's squad: PR Sreejesh (captain and GK), Harmanpreet Singh (defender), Rupinder Pal Singh (defender), Kothajit Singh (defender), Surendar Kumar (defender), Manpreet Singh (midfielder), Sardar Singh (midfielder), VR Raghunath (defender), SK Uthappa (midfielder), Danish Mujtaba (midfielder), Devender Walmiki (midfielder), SV Sunil (forward and vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh (forward), Chinglensana Singh (midfielder), Ramandeep Singh (forward), Nikkin Thimmaiah (forward), Pardeep Mor, Vikas Dahiya (stand bys).

Women's squad: Savita (GK), Navjot Kaur (midfielder), Deep Grace Ekka (defender), Monika (midfielder), Anuradha Devi (forward), Poonam Rani (forward), Vandana Kataria (forward), Deepika (defender), Namita Toppo (defender), Renuka Yadav (midfielder), Sunita Lakra (defender), Sushila Chanu (defender), Rani Rampal (forward), Preeti Dubey (forward), Lilima Minz (midfielder), Nikki Pradhan (forward), Rajani Etimarpu and H. Lalruat Feli (stand bys).