The 24-member Indian Men's Hockey Team was revealed by Hockey India on Thursday for the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 (Men) European leg, which will be played from June 7–22, 2025, in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, and Antwerp, Belgium.
The team will continue to be led by veteran dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh as captain, with midfield virtuoso Hardik Singh serving as vice-captain. At the Wagner Stadium in Amstelveen, India will play two matches each against the Netherlands on June 7 and 9, followed by a doubleheader encounter against Argentina on June 11 and 12.
Before finishing their campaign against hosts Belgium on June 21 and 22, the squad will next travel to Antwerp to play Australia on June 14 and 15.
Goalkeepers Suraj Karkera and Krishan Bahadur Pathak are part of the team. The team's defense will consist of Sumit, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Captain Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, and Yashdeep Siwach.
Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Vice Captain Hardik Singh, young sensation Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, and Shamsher Singh are among the team's midfield players. Team India's attackers will be Gurjant Singh, Abhishek, Shilanand Lakra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, and Sukhjeet Singh.
Earlier this year, India played the home leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 (Men) at Bhubaneswar. With five victories in eight games, they earned fifteen points and are currently ranked third in the league. With the league's top team guaranteed a position in the 2026 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup, India will be looking to boost their performance and earn as many points as possible in the tournament's last eight games.
Craig Fulton, the chief coach of the Indian men's team, said of the squad selection, "I am really happy with the selection and we wanted a bit more experience in the squad this time around." As we aim to push ourselves to the limit and win the Pro League, the squad has been training well. We want to attempt to collect as many points as possible to place ourselves in a strong position for the World Cup, as qualification is at stake.
Fulton remarked, "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," with reference to the Bhubaneswar leg and the future. He said, "Yes, we have some good goals to try and achieve this time around. We also need to improve our penalty corner conversion rate."
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
MIDFIELDERS
- Raj Kumar Pal
- Nilakanta Sharma
- Hardik Singh (VC)
- Rajinder Singh
- Manpreet Singh
FORWARDS
- Gurjant Singh
- Abhishek
- Shilanand Lakra
- Mandeep Singh
- Lalit Kumar Upadhyay
- Dilpreet Singh
