Sardar Singh to lead India in Champions Trophy hockey

Ace centre-half Sardar Singh will lead an 18-member Indian hockey team for the Champions Trophy to be held in Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar Dec 6-14.

HI selectors Harbinder Singh, R.P. Singh, Arjun Halappa, high performance director Roelant Oltmans, coach Jude Felix and scientific advisor Matthew Eyles selected the 18-member squad after the selection trials were conducted at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here Nov 18.

Star goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh (115 caps) will be Sardar's deputy for the eight-nation tournament.

"Team India is in superb form and after a remarkable performance in 2014 Asian Games and Test Series in Australia, we are more than confident of doing well in this tournament. The team selected has the right combination and will give a tough time to the opponents," Oltmans said.

India will play their first match against Olympic champions Germany Dec 6, and this will be followed by clashes against Argentina and the Netherlands.

After chief coach Terry Walsh's tenure ended, the team is training under the guidance of Oltmans.

Team:

Goal Keepers: P.R. Sreejesh (vice-captain) (115 Caps), Harjot Singh (6 Caps).

Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh (101 Caps), V.R. Raghunath (176 Caps), Birendra Lakra (87 Caps), Kothajit Singh (87 Caps), Gurbaj Singh (180 Caps), Gurjinder Singh (19 Caps).

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (112 Caps), Sardar Singh (captain) (200 Caps), Dharamvir Singh (90 caps), Danish Mujtaba (127 Caps), S.K. Uthappa (58 Caps).

Forwards: Ramandeep Singh (26 Caps), S.V. Sunil (153 Caps), Akashdeep Singh (56 Caps), Nikkin Thimmaiah (27 Caps), Lalit Upadhyay (9 Caps).