Indian Hockey team announces its squad for Paris Olympics

Hockey India revealed the 16-player Indian men's hockey team for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, which will take place from the 26th of the next month until the 11th of August.

The squad, consisting of five first-time Olympians will be captained by standout drag-flicker and defender Harmanpreet Singh. Hardik Singh, a dominant midfielder, is set to be appointed as the vice-captain.

The squad also features veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. The defence line includes Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, and Sanjay, while the midfield will see the contributions of Raj Kumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, and Vivek Sagar Prasad.

The forward line includes strong players like Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, and Gurjant Singh.

Furthermore, substitute athletes include goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak, midfielder Nilakanta Sharma, and defender Jugraj Singh.

India is in Pool B in the Paris 2024 Olympics with defending Champions Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, and Ireland. In order to progress to the Quarter-Finals, the team needs to achieve a top-four placement in their pool.

Pool A consists of the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, South Africa, and host country France, creating a highly competitive 12-team men's hockey competition.

India will begin their journey on the 27th of the upcoming month against New Zealand, and then play against Argentina on the 29th of July. Their next opponents are Ireland on July 30 and Belgium on August 1, followed by their last group stage match against Australia on August 2.