New Delhi: Sardar Singh will lead a 21-member Indian team to the tour of New Zealand, scheduled to from October 2 to 11 in Auckland, Nelson and Christchurch, but Danish Mujtaba was the notable exclusion from the 21-member squad.
India will play a total of six games on the tour. The first two games will be played against New Zealand A, while in rest of the four matches, they will be up against the New Zealand's national squad.
A strong 21-member squad was selected after a rigorous preparatory camp at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here under the Director High Performance and chief coach of the men's team, Roelant Oltmans.
Midfielders Manpreet Singh and Dharamvir Singh also returned to the mix after missing the European tour where India played bilateral matches in Spain and France. Forward Nikkin Thimmaiah too found his place in the final shortlist.
During the camp, the team had worked hard on passes and penalty corner conversions.
"The team in the last couple of weeks has worked on team coordination and passes. The idea is to convert when in the D and not lose out on those moments," said Oltmans.
The coach also revealed that the goalkeepers had a fruitful session under Dave Staniforth of South Africa.
"The boys are looking forward to the tournament ahead and are confident of a positive show. Also Dave Staniforth recently holding a three-week goalkeeping camp has got the goalkeepers pepped up and are waiting to exhibit the learning's under the bar," Oltsman said.
India will be playing their opening game against New Zealand A in Auckland on October 2.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh (vice captain), Harjot Singh.
Defenders: Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, VR Raghunath, Jasjit Singh Kular, Rupinder Pal Singh, Gurjinder Singh.
Midfielders: Sardar Singh (captain), Chinglensana Singh, SK Uthappa, Satbir Singh, Devinder Walmiki, Manpreet Singh, Dharamvir Singh.
Forwards: SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Nikkin Thimmaiah.
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