~ The Indian Men's Hockey Team will play three matches against Belgium and two matches against Spain
"VAN" (Sports Desk) :: Hockey India on Friday named the 20-member Indian Men's Hockey team for their upcoming Tour of Belgium which is scheduled to take place from 26th September - 3th October 2019 in Antwerp, Belgium. The Indian team will be Captained by Manpreet Singh and Vice-Captained by Harmanpreet Singh, and will play three matches against Belgium and two matches against Spain.
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay will be making a comeback to the Indian Men's Hockey Team after the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, while Rupinder Pal Singh, who missed out on the Olympic Test Event, makes a return to the side for the tour of Belgium. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh joins the side after being rested for the Olympic Test Event while Krishan B Pathak is the other goalkeeper in the team. Defenders Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Khadangbam Kothajit Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh have been named in the squad and Midfielders include Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Nilakanta Sharma. India's forward-line features Mandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Akashdeep Singh.
"We have chosen a strong and experienced group to play in Europe in what will be quite a full match schedule. Lalit Upadhyay will get his first opportunity to impress after an extended injury and Rupinder Pal Singh also comes back in," expressed Chief Coach Graham Reid about the team selected for the event.
The Australian said that the tour of Belgium will be the perfect preparation for the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers match against Russia in Odisha, "With three tests against Belgium, two against Spain and a full training day with the Dutch team, the tour will be a perfect preparation for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers. Belgium are a strong team and if we perform well against them at their own backyard then the team will gain a lot of confidence. We are expecting a tough challenge from Spain as well."
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