At the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy, which witnessed a high-level international hockey tournament in Chennai, after 16 long years, one of the star attractions was Karthi Selvam. The forward from Tamil Nadu got plenty of love from the local crowd but after a decent outing in the team, he didn’t make the cut for subsequent squads. On Monday, he found his name on the team sheet once more as Hockey India announced the 24-member squad for a four-match tour of Australia that is going to be a key series in determining the squad for Asia Cup in Rajgir, a World Cup qualifier.
With the retirement of Lalit Upadhyay opening up a spot in the forward line, Karthi – and another youngster in Aditya Lalage – enter the fray along with Mandeep Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, and Dilpreet Singh.
Karthi’s recent return to the core probable group for the national camp and subsequent call-up for the India ‘A’ side followed good performances in the revamped Hockey India League earlier this year, where he impressed for the Tamil Nadu Dragons.
The recent tour to Europe with India ‘A’ was a shot in the arm. “It instilled fresh hope for India comeback for me. It’s going to be two years since I last wore the India colours and there’ve been a lot of learnings for me in this tour, which had a combination of young players and those who have played for India,” Karthi told Hockey India before the squad was announced.
Speaking about his own game, Karthi said, “There have been some specific inputs that Craig (Fulton) has given me and also Cosma, our Analytical Coach, has provided valuable inputs for my game particularly on off-the-ball tactics. I’ve been implementing this in my game and look forward to breaking into the India side again,” stated
The four-match Tour of Australia is from 15th August to 21st August in Perth while the Asia Cup starts on 29th August.
Harmanpreet Singh will continue to lead the side, having recovered just at the fag end of the European tour of the FIH Pro League. In goal, there are no changes with Krishan Pathak and Suraj Karkera retaining their spots. The other defenders in the squad are Sumit, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Amit Rohidas, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jugraj Singh while Karnataka’s Poovanna CB comes in as a fresh face.
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Young Rajinder Singh, who is often likened to stalwart former India Captain Sardar Singh, will feature among the midfielders along with Raj Kumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, and Vishnu Kant Singh.
Speaking about the importance of this Tour ahead of the Asia Cup, Chief Coach Craig Fulton said, “We are heading to Perth Australia to sharpen up ahead of the Asia Cup in Bihar. The focus will be on improving our physical conditioning and technical execution through quality training and warm up matches.”
Fulton also spoke about testing youngsters in the squad and giving them the exposure ahead of important outings. He said, “We have brought in some younger players to give them valuable exposure and test combinations under pressure. This camp is a key part of our preparation and a chance to build individual and team momentum before competing at home.”
The Indian Team will leave for Australia on 8th August from Bengaluru where they are currently training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus.
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SQUAD:
- Goalkeepers: Krishan B Pathak, Suraj Karkera
- Defenders: Sumit, Jarmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Sanjay, Amit Rohidas, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jugraj Singh, Poovanna CB
- Midfielders: Rajinder Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Vishnu Kant Singh
- Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Karthi Selvam, Aditya Lalage
