A 22 member Indian men hockey team led by 26 year old Chandigarh winger Rajpal Singh shall tour Europe in July.
The squad will compete in the Four Nation Hamburg Masters Tournament in Germany against the Netherlands, Japan and the hosts from 2-4 July followed by a Test series in Belgium, France and Holland.
The team will play three Tests against Belgium from 05-16 July and then play France in another three match series. They will wind up their Europe tour with two Tests against the Dutch on 24 and 25 July.
The team was selected after trials at Balewadi, Pune, attended by Hockey India selectors Col. Balbir Singh, BP Govinda and Sita Mehta alongwith the Government nominees Ajitpal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, Foreign coach Jose Brasa and National coach Harendra Singh.
There are two changes from the squad which was declared the joint winners at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh, Malaysia last month. Striker Shivendra Singh has injured his ankle while midfielder Arjun Halappa has been rested.
Dragflicker Sandeep Singh, medio Ajitesh Roy and forward Hari Prasad have made a comeback while promising youngster Birendra Lakra Jr. gets his first look into the senior squad.
Last year India had also toured Europe and played matches in England, Belgium, Spain and Holland.
The following is the squad :
Goalkeepers
Sreejesh PR (Indian Overseas Bank)
Bharat Chetri (Canara Bank)
Defenders
Sardar Singh (Haryana)
Dhananjay Mahadik (Services)
Rupinder Pal Singh (Indian Overseas Bank)
Sandeep Singh (Haryana)
Amit Prabhakar (Air India)
Midfielders
Gurbaj Singh (Air India)
Ravi Pal (BPCL)
Prabodh Tirkey (Air India)
Ajitesh Roy (Punjab National Bank)
Bharat Chikara (Indian Oil)
Danish Mujtaba (UP)
Vikas Pillay (Air India)
Birendra Lakra Jr. (BPCL)
Forwards
Rajpal Singh (Indian Oil) – Captain
Tushar Khandker (BPCL)
Sarvanjit Singh (Punjab & Sind Bank)
Mandip Antil (ONGC)
Mohd. Amir Khan (Air India)
Hari Prasad (BPCL)
Dharamvir Singh (Indian Oil)
Officials
Jose Brasa (Foreign Coach)
Harendra Singh (National Coach)
Clarence Lobo (Coach)
Jugraj Singh (Coach)
Pradip Dutta (Trainer)
Lt. Col. BK Nayak (Doctor)
Shrikant Iyengar (Physio)
Ram Kishan Bansiwal (Masseur)
Raj Kumar Kakati (Manager)