Gurinder to lead India men's team in hockey 5s tournament

NEW DELHI: Gurinder Singh will lead while Sumit will be his deputy in the nine-member Indian men's hockey side, which will compete in the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey 5s to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland on June 5-6.

India will play Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland and hosts Switzerland in the tournament.

The team is a mix of players from the Olympic bronze medal-winning squad as well as the FIH Junior World Cup held last year.

This includes goalkeeper Pawan, defenders Sanjay, Mandeep Mor and Gurinder Singh. Midfielders Sumit and Rabichandra Singh have been called up along with forwards Dilpreet Singh, Mohd Raheel Mouseen and Gursahibjit Singh.

Among the nine-member squad, Pawan, Sanjay and Rabichandra were also part of the silver medal-winning Indian team at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018 where Hockey 5s format was played. They were also part of the Junior Men's World Cup in Bhubaneswar last year, while Sumit and Dilpreet Singh were part of the Olympic bronze medal-winning squad.

Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Boby Singh Dhami and Sudeep Chirmako have been named standbys for tournament.

Chief coach Graham Reid who will accompany the team said, "The FIH Hockey5s tournament in Lausanne will provide an opportunity to showcase a different version of our game. We are excited about the prospect of playing fast entertaining hockey at a great venue against world class opposition in a beautiful country.

"We have chosen a team that while maybe on the younger side contains multiple players who have played the format before at the Youth Olympics. At the same time this tournament provides another opportunity for players to experience international hockey played at its best," Reid added.

The team is scheduled to leave from Bengaluru on June 1.

Team: Pawan, Sanjay, Mandeep Mor, Gurinder Singh (captain), Sumit (vice-captain), Rabichandra Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Mohd Raheel Mouseen, Gursahibjit Singh.

Standbys: Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Boby Singh Dhami, Sudeep Chirmako.