New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): Hockey India on Thursday announced the 24-member Indian Men's Hockey Team for the European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 (Men), which is scheduled to take place in Amstelveen, the Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium from June 7 to June 22, as per a release from Hockey India.

Experienced drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh will continue to lead the side as Captain, with midfield maestro Hardik Singh joining him as Vice-Captain. India will begin their European leg with two matches each against the Netherlands on June 7th and 9th, followed by the doubleheader against Argentina on June 11-12 at the Wagner Stadium in Amstelveen.

The team will then travel to Antwerp to face Australia on June 14th and 15th before ending their campaign against hosts Belgium on June 21st-22nd.

The squad includes Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera as the goalkeepers. Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Captain Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay and Yashdeep Siwach will occupy the team's defence.

In midfield, the team features Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Vice Captain Hardik Singh, young prodigy Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, and Shamsher Singh. Gurjant Singh, Abhishek, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, and Sukhjeet Singh will be the attackers for Team India.

India played the home leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 (Men) in Bhubaneswar earlier this year. They secured fifteen points with five wins in eight games and now stand third in the points table. With the highest-placed team of the league securing a spot in the 2026 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup, India will be hoping to improve upon their performance and win maximum points in the remaining eight matches of the tournament.

Speaking on the squad selection, Indian Men's Team Chief Coach Craig Fulton stated, as quoted from a release by Hockey India, 'We wanted a bit more experience in the squad this time around and I am really happy with the selection. The team has been training well as we're looking to try and push as hard as possible and win the Pro League. Since there's qualification for the World Cup on the line, we want to try and get as many points to put ourselves in a good position for that.'

Reflecting on the Bhubaneswar leg and the way ahead, Fulton said, 'We haven't drawn any games so far in the tournament and I believe we need to turn our losses into draws and then go for a shootout, so if we don't really get the desired results, we can still get points on the board. We also need to improve our penalty corner conversion rate so yes, we've got some good objectives to try and achieve this time around.'

Indian Men's Hockey Team for FIH Pro League 2024-25 European leg:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera

Defenders: Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Yashdeep Siwach

Midfielders: Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh (VC), Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh

Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Abhishek, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh. (ANI)