Hockey India announces 33 players for men’s national camp. PR Sreejesh makes a comeback.

After ending the year with a Bronze Medal at the Men’s Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar. The Indian men’s hockey team will report for a 10-day national camp. Beginning on January 4 at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru. Focus will be on the progress made by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who will make a comeback.

Goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak, part of the winning team of 2016 Junior World Cup and part of Dabang Mumbai. Finds himself in the group along with Akash Chikte and Suraj Karkera. The veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh also finds a place in the team. Who is eyeing the return courtesy of some good form after recovering from a long injury.

Nilam Sanjeep Xess, the young defender from Sundargarh, Odisha who led the Indian team to U-18 Asia Cup win in 2016, has been included to the Senior Core Group.

Selectors stick with same midfield comprising Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, SK Uthappa, Sumit, Kothajit Singh, Satbir Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Simranjeet Singh, Harjeet Singh in the group.

Young forward Armaan Qureshi has shown promises and finds a place in the group. Alongside SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh, Sumit, Ramandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, Talwinder Singh.

The 2018 schedule includes Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April. Followed by the Champions Trophy at Netherlands in July, the Jakarta Asian Games in August, Asian Champions Trophy in October. And the much-awaited Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar starting in November. Read: List of the greatest hockey players from India.

India will begin the season with the Four Nations Invitational Tournament in Tauranga and Hamilton, New Zealand. Which will see Belgium, Japan and the hosts in fray. And the ten-day national camp will lay foundation to a testing season ahead.

“The camp will be short and we need to deal with the players who just played domestic matches. Which means we need to be careful in training considering we play eight matches in New Zealand,” said Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

“Like always, the evaluation of the previous tournament needs to come from the players. So that’s the first thing we do when we meet for this camp. I would like to understand what their experience was of the tournament and what they think needs to improve. For me, Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017 gave an insight into what is necessary to improve when we play higher ranked teams and I certainly believe we can do better in our 1 vs 1 defending. In the next tour this will be one of the key areas we would like to improve,” added the 43-year-old Dutchman.